Love Comes In The Strangest Ways
by mastercreater
Summary: Hermione gets hurt during the holidays. Draco tries to help but realizes that getting close to her isn't an easy task. While they try to keep their emotions together, Hermione and Draco find out that they aren't who they seem.
1. Default Chapter

DRACO'S POV :  
  
I woke up this blasted morning with the same angry opinion, SHUT THE HELL OFF YOU BLOODY ALARM!!!! I groaned and threw my alarm clock across the bloody room. Gawd, Isn't there anything decent in this room? Oh, yes.the answer was so very obvious.me.  
Damn. I forgot that today was the day I was doing back to that so called wizard school Hogwarts. I practically ordered myself out of bed. I hadn't even gotten a good ounce of rest yet. For crying out loud, I slept at twelve and awoke at five. Blast that no good alarm.  
I slouched into the bathroom and admired myself in the mirror for at least thirty minutes. That horrid mirror, it only complimented me on my charm and good looks seventeen times. Gawd, I already told it a million times, it should at least compliment me on my charm and good looks twenty- five times. But, no problem. I can always order myself a new one.  
I laughed at myself as I pictured Weasley. Poor, clumsy, Weasley. Such ashamed that Potter would befriend him instead of a handsome and rich fellow like myself. Hah! Weasley's house would hardly cost a quarter of the price of my robes. And hell, I looked good in it!  
Shaking the horrid thoughts of Weasley and Potter from my handsome head, I squeezed some shampoo on to my platinum coloured hair. After an hour or so of bathing, I slipped into my bath robes and walked out of the bathroom.  
It took me quite a while to pick out what to wear. I really wanted to get the upper hand of girls at Hogwarts. I didn't want everyone thinking that Parkinson was my girlfriend. Ugh.I practically shudder to think that she and I were anything. She really did have an ugly pug like face. She's probably a mixed breed between a wizard and a bulldog. I laughed as I pictured her with her pug like face and a bulldog's body.  
I smirked at my reflection. I looked really, really good. No girl would be able to resist my charm. My platinum coloured hair was slicked back with a simple charm, my lips curled into a smirk which nobody could out do, my steely gray eyes locked viciously with my pale skin, and my body had grown very muscular. I was wearing a black T-shirt, a pair of gray cargo pants, and black boots underneath my dark green robes.  
Hell, I look great! I walked out of my room, pushing away the slimy scattering house elves. Damn. I hate those things. They look so ugly with their stupid round eyes and dumb filthy pillowcase and all. Ugh.  
Once I entered the room, I noticed Mother and Father in their best robes eating breakfast. I cringed at the sight of Father. He never really cared or bothered for me. All he would ever do is buy me whatever I want. Of course, I did not complain with that. The more the better as I always say.  
Father caught my eye and sneered while Mother on the other hand, grinned. " Oh, my sweet Draco is looking so handsome! I am sure that all the girls at school will just adore you!!!"  
I rolled my eyes. Sure she was complimenting me, but it was the whole SWEET thing that grossed me out. As I slid to my usual seat across from Mother, I noticed Father mutter something about me being a playboy and that Pansy was more than enough for me. I gritted my teeth and tried not to shout. Seriously, does he think I look like that filthy Pansy Parkinson?!?!  
" Draco." He said after a long horrible silence ( except for the sounds of Mother buttering her bagel ) " Remember, you are seventeen years old and I do not want any nonsense from you in any way. No contact with bloody mudbloods. I want good results from you in this whole year and do not ruin the Malfoy family name. You are not only a Malfoy, but the new head prefect."  
Ugh.he sounded like McGonnagle just right then. All I could do was nod. I did not want to start a row with him again, even though I despised him so very much. Father gave me no more than a nod as in to say goodbye and Mother hugged me.  
Since Father hated Muggles, he lent me a portkey to the Hogwarts Express. I have never been to that so called horrid Platform nine and ¾ before and neither have I been to the bloody Muggle World, not that I wanted to.  
  
HERMIONE'S POV :  
  
I awoke at five in the morning, rubbing sleep from my eyes. I slowly slouched myself to the bathroom while cursing my dumb alarm. The first thing I saw when I stepped into the bathroom, was my reflection. I bit my tongue as I recalled yesterday's events.  
My parents had fought each other and I had over heard them speaking about me being adopted. This would really be a big deal to me last year, but ever since the last couple of months, I had practically lost all hope.  
Just last month had Victor dumped me. He said that I didn't suit him because of my lack of Quidditch. Two weeks later, I thought I had finally faced true love with an ordinary powerless Muggle. But sadly, it was only a stupid bet that he had made with his pals. He said that I was nothing but a nerdy bookworm. I had been really depressed for days.  
These days, all I seem to do is wonder. Wonder if I'll ever find true love or a caring family. My parents didn't care much. All Father ever wanted from me was good results, if I didn't have it he would hurt me, and if I did have it he wouldn't care less. Mother never bothered either. She always fought with Father and would scold me for absolutely nothing. I hated it. I hated everything.  
Starting from the past two months, I didn't seem to be myself. I didn't bother reading, acting smart, caring about appropriate clothing, school work, nor anything else.  
  
I bit my tongue harder until I felt it bleed painfully. Ofcaurse, I never cared. Not wanting to think about yesterday, I stripped off my clothes and showered myself with burning hot water. I didn't even bother to turn down the water.  
The burning of the water felt good against my body. My skin had changed a nice tan colour ever since these holidays. Probably because of all the pain and fury I've been having, I really needed something to wash it all away. And, no. I did not drink alcohol or anything connected to such. Instead, I just relaxed myself with a nice hot shower.  
Once done, I tugged out my bathrobes and slouched out of the bathroom. My hair was dripping wet and I dried it of and looked at my reflection through the mirror.  
Man, I had certainly grown. My hair was no longer bushy, but now it was straight and had nice bright strips of dyed red hair against my dark brown hair, my body had turned slimmer and certainly more curvier because of my lack of food, my skin was a nice tan colour as I had mentioned earlier, my eyes were deep chocolate brown, and my lips had inky black lipstick on it.  
I was wearing a pale blue Eminem type hoodie, a pair of khaki pants, a chain across my hips, two small silver hoop earrings on each ear, and a pair of spiky bangles. I didn't really care what anyone thought of me, as long as I put something on. I looked quite nice beneath all the stress.  
I pulled out a packet of gum, and put three whole sticks of it into my mouth at once. This was sort of becoming a habit of mine, but, hell.who would care.?  
Damnit. Hell like memories are coming back too me. I remembered when I thought Potter and Weasley were my friends. damn was I wrong! Those jerks only used me for my brains. I had shouted shit at them when I heard what they said about me being nothing but a bloody, bushy haired, bookworm. And there I was, thinking they liked me for who I was..I should have known.  
I pursed my lips and tried like hell to stop me from crying. I walked numbly towards the stairs, knowing that there was nothing to look forward to in life anymore. Once I reached downstairs, I was greeted by a sneer from Father. " Remember Hermione. You better get the highest grades In that retched school of yours.or else." He hissed. I gave him a weak nodd. After that, I pulled out a Portkey which I had bought with my savings. I really did not want to go to Platform 9 and ¾, it brought back to many horrid memories.  
  
DRACO'S POV :  
  
I walked around the freaking Hogwarts Express. It is really getting boring in here. Aahh, yes.my favourite Trio. Potter, Weasley, and Gran- hey.where is Granger? Oh, well. She isn't much fun anyways. Hehehe.I will really enjoy this.  
I smirked as I walked over to Potter's conpartment. I just love being the one to tease Potter and Weasly. Hey, what the, Holy Shit! Some new kid is teasing them. I walked over too them.  
" Excuse me, but these are my arch enemies.so if you please, can you find some other morons to tease.?" I said arrogantly to the boy who was teasing Potter and Weasley. Only, it wasn't a boy. It was.  
" Granger?!?" I screamed, almost tripping on my feet. She gave me a an evil smirk.  
" What. Is it that suprising?" She asked flatly. Infact, it didn't even sound like a damn question. Granger smirked again. Gawd. Where did she learn to smirk like that. it looks as good as.as mine.  
" Close your damn mouth Malferret." She hissed cruelly. She sinked closer toward my ear. " Wouldn't want to anyone to see you looking at me, would you? It'll ruin your reputation, wouldn't it?" She reared her head back from my ear, smirked, and said ; " I think you have some drool, right there." She rubbed a corner of my mouth and walked out to the Head Prefect Conpartment.  
I spun around and caught sight of Potter and Weasley gaping at me. I glared darkly at them and stomped out of their conpartment. Thoughts were flooding through my head viciously, thoughts such as ; Where did Granger learn to smirk like that, Why was SHE teasing Potthead and Weasel, When did she become so attractive, Did she realize how close she had been to me?  
These questions were flowing madly and I just have got to relax and sit down. I walked into God knows who's conpartment, and slamed my body down onto the seat. My eyes were closed and I was rubbing my forehead achingly. I had no idea of who's conpartment this was..I didn't really care either.  
Then, a horrible shriek, and before I knew what was happening.dozens of girls were swooning around me, shrieking, pulling my arms, calling out my name. BLOODY HELL! I had fallen right into some of my fan clubs' conpartment. Gawd. This is what I hated of being so damn handsome.filthy girls. Not the pretty ones, the annoying, mad, ugly type ones. The type like Pansy. Puke! That is so damn gross.  
I tried my hardest to push and wriggle my way out of the horrible trolls. They were really ugly, not to mention, gross. I breathed heavily once I finnaly got out of that damn filthy conpartment. I brushed the hair out of my face and looked up at the next conpartment which I had landed in.  
Shit. Of all the places I wanted to be in. Granger's conpartment. I gulped and hope that bloody Granger wouldn't try anything, I don't know why, but I sort of feel weird around Granger.  
Much to my luck, she was sleeping. Gawd damn, she looked hott. Since I was head boy and I would also be sharing the same conpartment, I decided to check Granger out before she awoke. She looked like a piece of art, an angel, MY angel. I knew she wasn't actually mine, nor was she anything close to mine. But she will be mine.  
I didn't realize I had been staring at her for so long, and before I knew it, Granger awoke. Her dark brown eyes locked directly with my steely gray eyes.  
  
HERMIONE'S POV :  
~ Dream ~ I was runing along a beautiful and peaceful meadow, nothing in the world had gone wrong.everything was right, the way it should be. I inhaled the sweet air.so nice, so breezy and cool.it tasted like sweet, sweet heaven. Yes. Heaven. Only in my dreams shall I ever feel it. Why couldn't reality be like this? Fantasy was my only heaven, while reality was my hell. Nothing can go wrong in a dream. The birds, they were singing me a song.the rabbits, they were dancing for me.darkness was accomplished, but only in dreams. Everything I wanted.but, why? Why is there something missing? What was it? I walked into a spooky looking cave, carefull not to disturb anything. On the walls, there was a word. I read the word carefully. Letter by letter. L-O-V...~ End of dream ~  
I opened my eyes.gazing directly into a pair of steely gray eyes. Gawd. Malfoy? How long has he been here? D-did he see anything? Oh shit.Shitshitshitshitshit!!!  
" Malfoy?!" I stamered, crawling from my seat and against the wall. " What the holy cramping shit are you doing here?"  
Malfoy gave me an arrogant chuckle. The kind he does when he sees something pathetic. " Are you so surprised to find out that I'M the head prefect, mudblood?" He asked in another arrogant tone of voice.  
I sneered acidly at him. Just my freaking luck. I have to share a conpartment AND a common room with that damn ferret. Must everything be hell? Well, duh. The answer was so simple, so clear.YES!  
" So, how much did your daddy have to pay for you this time? Five, wait.six thousand galleons? Probably seven thousand. It'll take a lot to make you a prefect. Would't be surprised if he paid twenty million galleons just to make you Head.seriously."  
Malfoy sneered acidly back at me. A sneer which only takes practice to do. " Well, atleast I could afford twenty million galleons. Unlike your little pal Weasle, that is"  
Weasley? My friend? How mad is he?! I f__ked Weasley AND Potter a whole YEAR ago!!! What planet does HE live on? Obviously a stupid one.  
Again, I sneered at him. a deadly acid type sneer. " What centuary do you live in? Me and the wonder tuo are dead.gone.extinct." I folded my arms on my chest and gazed out the window. The scenery outside passed in a quick blur. I missed the old times. I would do anything to get it back.  
" You broke up with the wonder trio? Thought you guys were inseparable.why did you brake up?" Malfoy asked. Wonder why he cares.  
I spun my head from the window in order to look at him. I shruged sheepishly. " They never cared for me. everything about us was a lie. They only used me for homework and my brains. I was just some dumb tool. I guess I'm just a bloody know-it-all book worm to them.probably the exact oppinion to you."  
I turned back to the window. Flashbacks of all the laughs and adventures I shared with Harry and Ron passed quickly through my mind in a blur. At times I just wish I could fly back into the past..when everything was right. I had friends again. A huge lump felt stuck in my throat. I wanted to let everything go. I just wanted to cry my heart out. I just wanted to sit next to the window, crying, and slowly crying to death..  
WHY THE HELL CAN'T SOMEONE JUST KILL ME AND END MY MISSERY?!  
My head felt squashed, my mind spinning, I tried my very best to hold back tears. I can't cry, not now. Malfoy is here. Gawd! Why can't he leave?! Leave me alone and let me die! Death be upon me! It shall be my fate!  
" Are you okay?" Malfoy asked, I almost heard concern in his voice. I must have have heard wrong. Probably because the tears were already flowing, my heart was in my throat, my voice was a quiver, and I was becoming so weak that I could hardly stop.  
I cried so bad, my eyes hurt from crying. I lost all control of myself. I just wish I could die.  
  
DRACO'S POV :  
Damn.what did I do? She started crying her eyes out and all I do is stare blankly at her. Damn, I felt sorry for her for no filthy reason.  
" Umm.are you alright?" I asked deperately. I have no idea what to do. Granger nodded really gently. She looked blankly up at me. Gawd! Something must have clicked there because all I could do was stare into her eyes. Her beautiful, enchanting, heart worth, dark brown eyes.  
I could see pain, depression, anger, frustration, and emptiness in only one look into her eyes. Gawd, it was like looking into her soul.  
Granger broke the contact between us. She obviously didn't feel the click. She steadily picked herself up and sat back onto her seat. She stared out the window. I felt frustrated that she was staring at the scenery instead of staring into my eyes.  
I wanted badly to look back into her eyes, the windows to her soul. I wanted to understand, to help.Wait a minute! I can't try to help a mudblood! Not Granger! Malfoy's and mudbloods DO NOT MIX!  
I tried as hard as possible to make my brain understand. It did but somehow, my heart didn't. 


	2. Pain and Realization

HERMIONE'S POV :  
  
I stared at the window. My cheeks wet from tears. I couldn't believe how stupid I was! How on earth could I have broken down in front of Malfoy?! He'd think I was a sissy baby...  
I gulped down my pain and walked out of the compartment, not really knowing where I'm heading to.  
"Where are you going?" I heard Malfoy ask timidly behind me. I felt funny and couldn't help but smile to myself. Malfoy seemed afraid I'd cry again.  
"Out." I answered, not bothering to face Malfoy.  
"Oh...," He croaked. If I heard correctly, he sounded kind of sad. Was he sad I was leaving?  
"I'll only be a while." I said, facing him. He seemed to brighten up a bit. Weird...  
Numbly, I walked out of the compartment. The back of my neck felt hot from the time I spent with Malfoy. He made me feel weird inside... a feeling I've never felt before.  
I walked around the train, wondering what the feeling was that I felt. Then...  
OOF! I bumped into someone.  
"Professor McGonnagle! Oh, I'm so sorry!" I said, not really meaning it. "Are you alright, Professor?"  
Professor McGonnagle nodded. "Yes, yes. I'm quite alright, Miss Granger," She replied crisply. "Now, into the compartment. I expect you know you've become Head Prefect?"  
I nodded in reply and followed the professor to the head compartment.  
  
Once we reached the compartment, I walked in and took a seat beside Malfoy. I felt the weird feeling come back to me again. I could tell Malfoy felt uncomfortable too. He kept wriggling around in his seat and would blush each time I faced him.  
"Alright, you two...," Professor McGonnagle said, looking at both of us in turn. "As Heads', it is your job to keep the students of Hogwarts in check. And as Heads' I expect you'll behave nicely and be model students...,"  
I rolled my eyes. I hate these type of speeches. I can't believe I used to actually LISTEN.  
McGonnagle cleared her throat. "Now... I hope that both of you have prepared a speech to give for your fellow prefects?" She asked.  
"Yes, Professor," Me and Malfoy chorused.  
McGonnagle gave us another nod and called in the rest of the prefects.  
I gasped in surprise. HARRY?!  
  
DRACO'S POV :  
  
I glared at Potter from my seat. I don't know why, but right after what Hermione, I mean, GRANGER told me about Potter and Weasel, my hatred for them grew even deeper.  
I glanced at Granger. I could sense her fear even behind the expressionless look on her face. I turned my view back on Potter and gave him another cold glare. He ignored me and took a seat with the other prefects. I frowned. How the hell could HE become prefect?!  
"Professor?" I asked, raising my left arm and giving Potter another glare. "How did POTTER become prefect? Wasn't that spot meant for Clayton?"  
Professor McGonnagle nodded (She seemed to do that A LOT!), "Yes, Malfoy. The spot WAS meant for Clayton, but there seemed to be a slight problem... you see... the Sorting Hat made quite a mistake. Clayton has been moved to the Hufflepuff house."  
I cocked an eyebrow. The Sorting Hat made a mistake? I never thought that would happen. My mind wondered off a bit. If the Sorting Hat could make a mistake... could it be possible that Granger COULD be in Slytherin?? I shook the crazy thought out of my head. Mudbloods, no matter how their personality is, couldn't be in Slytherin! Still... it didn't hurt to hope so. Right?  
I felt a tap on my left shoulder. I turned my head to the left and blushed hotly. "What is it, Granger?" I spat nastily, trying to cover up the weird feeling I felt around her.  
Granger glared at me nastily. "Just so you'd know, it's your turn to give a speech...," She replied with as much nastiness as her glare. I felt a pang in my heart. I truly wished I didn't talk to her so meanly. Nevertheless, it's passed and there's nothing I can do about it.  
I gave Granger a glare and stood up, ready to give my speech. All thru it, I glared at Potter. Great! Now both Weasel AND Pothead are prefects! Just my god damn luck! Why couldn't McGonnagle take someone else to be prefect?? It simply isn't fair!!  
After the speech, I sat back down next to Granger and waited for her to give her's. Granger stood up and started.  
"Prefects...," She announced. "It is good to see you, doing your duties... As for the new prefects, I hope you understand the important part we prefects do to keep our fair school in check...,"  
I stared up at her. I knew what marvelous hair she had, even under her hood. If only she'd let me see it...  
"Now I will read your duty schedule," She said, pulling out a piece of paper. "James and Summers, corridor...,"  
Lovely lips. The colour she used is unique... not like those stupid sluts who always use pink or red. Ugh. Do they think guys like that colour?? They're dead mad...  
"Weasley and Creevy, halls...,"  
And those eyes... they were the most interesting thing about her... I can't believe I've never noticed it before... she had enchanting orbs for eyes. A beautiful deep brown... If you look close enough, you could see the little sparks of gold...  
"Drakie, dear?" A horrible high pitched voice cooed behind me. I cringed. Not Pansy again!  
"What?!" I growled thru gritted teeth. I hated that *****.  
"What are you staring at? Why aren't you staring at me Drakie Poo?? Aren't I your Sugar Dumpling?" She asked in what's supposed to be suductive. Gross!  
I rolled my eyes and tried to ignore her. Damn was it hard! She kept playing with my hair and whispering yukky words.  
I looked up at Granger. I hope she didn't see this! She'd think I was WITH Pansy! That's the last thing I want. Ugh!  
Thank god though, she didn't see me. She was too busy with her speech. Every once in a while I'd see her stare blankly at Potter. Potter would stare blankly back at her. I don't get it!! She says that the Wonder Duo had hurt her, but by the look in Potter's eyes it seemed that she had hurt him aswell! AM I MISSING SOMETHING?!  
I got sick of glaring at Potter. He ignored me the whole time and he looked as empty and miserable as Granger. Instead I turned to Weasley. Damn was that a surprise! All I could see on his face was hatred, anger and disgust. He wasn't glaring at me though, instead he was glaring at Pothead and Granger. Something's going on between these three...  
And I'm going to find out.  
  
HERMIONE'S POV :  
  
I finished my speech and took my seat. I stared sadly at Harry. I missed him... but what could I do? They broke my heart and spat shit at it. And to think, I was in love with him...  
Harry always made me feel good. The way he used to save me when danger came, or when he caught me when I fell... Sometimes I just want to go up to him, apologize, and snog him for 3 hours... Infact, I always wanted to do that. I still do. But, after what he's done to me, I feel it's impossible. Love is impossible. I was a fool to ever believe it could happen... Only weaklings fall in love...  
  
~Flashback~  
  
I walked into the Gryffindore common room with a determined look on my face. Tonight was the night. The night I told Harry what I've felt for him for all these years.  
I saw him sitting there by the fireplace. The light of from the fire gleaming infront of him. Everything looked and felt so right just then. Ron and I had a huge fight and for the very first time, Harry stook up for me. ME! I couldn't believe it!! He helped me through my hard time, and for that I loved him.  
"Harry?' I asked timidly behind him.  
Harry didn't answer. Instead there was some type of muffled sound. It was the familiar sound I heard each time Ron was making out with Lavender. It was the sound of kissing.  
I stopped immediately in my tracks. My skin paled.  
"Oh. Hey, Hermione." Harry said, turning towards me sounding rather panicked. On his lap was Cho, lying there with smeared lipstick and looking as pretty as ever. I felt like KILLING her. "Y-you won't tell on us, will you...?" Cho gave a shrilly laugh, all slutty and b****y like. "Ofcaurse not, Harry love!" She said. "Hermione's a GOOD girl! She'd NEVER do anything like that! For god's sake, Harry love! All she does is stick her nose in a book all day!"  
I felt my eyes water. I turned my back on Harry, tears dripping down my cheeks. I slowly walked away, ignoring Harry's desperate cries to stop. My simple walks changed into faster paces and I ran like my life depended on it. What I didn't know was, from that moment on, everything turned to hell.  
  
~End flashback~  
  
I felt my eyes water again. S**t! This was the second time today! I couldn't let anybody see me like this. Especially not Harry. I muttered a simple pain-loss charm (A/N: I made that dumb charm up!) and my my heart felt a little lighter than before. The pain-loss charm is one of the most used charms I've used this passed few months. That and the Locked Heart charm. It was so very handy when any feeling whatsoever came my wat. These charms, spells and curses I'm using may be dark magic, but it was the only thing keeping me alive...  
Yes, that's right. I'm living through the Dark Lord's power.  
  
DRACO'S POV :  
  
4 hours passed since the prefect meeting. I felt bored to death staring out the window. It was so damn quiet in here. Sure I tried making small talk with Granger, but all she'd answer is, "Yes", "No", or the ever loving "Snort". I was getting sick of it.  
Every once in a while I'd think of walking out the conpartment, but I DIDN'T want to get attacked by a mad herd of raving mad fan girls. Ugh! How could I even think that!  
"I'm bored...," I said outloud, hoping somebody would do something about it.  
Granger snorted. Pfft... That wasn't the type of reply I was hoping for. Just like her to snort at me. Had she no shame? She was snorting at me! Draco Malfoy! Most girls would go mad if I snorted at THEM!  
"Mudblood." Wonder what she's going to reply this time! Hah! Take that Granger! Am I annoying you?  
"Typical, Malfoy." Granger said in a monotone. "Really typical."  
...? Not the answer I expected. Oh, well. Third time's the charm! "Honstly Granger. Can't you say anything other than those simple sentences? What's wrong? Cat's got your tongue? Or is your brain to small to think of anything more intelligent?" I knew that question was dumb. Granger has one of the biggest brains in history. But still, it would be interesting to find out what Granger would reply.  
Granger gave a cruel laugh. "You know Malfoy, that's sad. Even for you!" She turned towards me and smirked. "Come on! Try again! Let's see what you've got Malferret!"  
I smirked back at her. Ooo... She wanted a challenge, eh? Well she must be out of her mind! I've had ages of practice teasing and picking on every sick loser. I guess I'm not going to be very bored after all! "Well, well Granger! You speak!" I said, out-smirking her.  
She made an even bigger smirk. More better, crueler and seductive. The kind of smirk you get when you've chopped the head off your enemy. I've only done that once or twice before in my life. By accident. I couldn't believe how SHE could do that just to beat me. I laughed, realizing what a stupid game we were doing. The "Who Has The Better Smirk Game" game!  
"What?" She asked, looking at me in confusion. "Lost your already lost mind, Malfoy? Laughing at nothing?"  
I laughed harder. It was ironic how she made sarcastic jokes out of me even when she's in a bad mood.  
Granger raised a brow, still confused. I chuckled. She looked cute like that. It wasn't everyday you see Granger confused. I liked it.  
"Umm... Hello? Earth to Stupid?" She said, waving a hand infront of me. "Are you alright? Malfoy? Malfoy? Hellooo...!"  
I couldn't stand it. She looked so cute and innocent that way. Without thinking, I pulled her close to me and kissed her on the lips. At that exact moment, all time stopped, the earth didn't rotate, the sun paused, water didn't flow... nothing came to mind except Hermione. I didn't even care about saying her first name. Infact, her name was the most wonderful thing in the universe. I could just scream it to the world. Hermione, Hermione, Hermione, HERMIONE!!!  
Then... It ended. The earth moved, the sun set, the water flowed... Everything went back to normal. Granger pulled off, and we ended the kiss.  
We were silent again. I was blushing madly, something I rarely do. I couldn't look at Granger. That girl's done something to me... Blushing, Kissing... I couldn't even put the words Granger and mudblood together! (Yes I've just said it, but it was separate)  
Then it hit me. Oh, god! I LIKE HERMIONE GRANGER!!  
  
A/N : Hey! It's mastercreater here (Hannah). How do you like Chapter two? It took A LOT of energy to finish it. And it's ONLY 5 pages!! Oh, well. Please review and tell me what you think!!  
  
PS: Don't comment me on my grammer and spelling. I forced myself into doing this for you! 


	3. The Resorting

_Hi! This is mastercreater here (I know that name sucks but I didn't know what to put! Sorry!)! So guess what! It's the holidays here in Malaysia! YAY!! I'm SOOO sorry my grammar and spelling was extremely horrible, I hope this chapter is alright with you! I tried as hard as I could! But I'm only thirteen, AND English is my second language! I know I'm terrible at it, but I just LOVE to write! Ok, here goes!  
  
NOTE TO REVIEWERS/FLAMERS : I now allow anonymous reviewers! Yippee (So take note anonymous people. REVIEW!)! By the way, the kiss from chapter two, it's not really a "I Love You" kiss, it's just a hormones kiss. Put yourself in Draco's shoes. You're a teenage boy, and you're extremely close with a hot girl. You can't help yourself, can you? So_, sorry for the misunderstandings and stuff. Put that kiss behind. It was just nothing!  
  
HERMIONE'S POV :  
  
I blinked. Then I blinked again. Did that ...? Did that really just happen...? Oh, s!  
I looked over at Malfoy. No... couldn't be... Malfoy COULD NOT have _kissed_ – oh God, that word sucks – _**ME!**_  
"Granger...," Malfoy said, breaking the eerie silence, "Er... about... about what – just now...,"  
But before he could continue his sentence, I said, "Yeah... I know. You were out of your mind – kissing me, a Mudblood... didn't know what you were doing – hormones – even if it was with a frizzy haired b."  
Malfoy stared at me, shocked. Hearing your own enemy call herself (Or himself) a b was pretty freaky (Not to mention extremely out).  
After a few horrible minutes of Malfoy's shocked-out stares, I decided its high time he give it a rest. "Malfoy?" I asked (It sounded more like a statement than a question)  
Malfoy jerked out of his trance to reply my question. "Huh? Oh..., er... what d'you want, Granger?" I noticed that he didn't spit the word 'Granger' out like a foul word like he used too.  
I shrugged, making Malfoy roll his eyes.  
Minutes passed. Than hours. We were close to Hogwarts...  
I stared out the window. My eyes felt like bursting into tears.The torture was unbearable. If it wasn't for my whacked out phsyco parents, I would've NEVER come back here. What's the use living in a world full of pain...?  
To pass the time, I decided to write a poem – it healed my pain at times.  
  
The Meaning of Life – By Hermione Granger  
  
_Life  
A pain and sorrow  
Why live?  
There'll be no tommorow...  
People –  
What fools  
To live life the fullest!_  
  
Before I could continue however, the train whistle blew – signaling our arrival at Hogwarts.  
"Er... Granger... so, uh, I guess we should... first years...," Malfoy mumbled, or atleast that's what I think he said.  
"Yeah," I said flatly, trying to hold back my tears. "Go ahead. I'll be there in a minute...,"  
Malfoy stared blankly at me for a while, then, without a word, he walked out of the compartment.  
Once he was out of view, I let a tear trickle down my cheek. I felt horrible. Why the heck did I come here? Ugh! I had more problems here than at home with my lying, hypocrite, fighting, no-good parents. How could've I been so stupid? Sigh It's too late to turn back now...  
Feeling extremely sad, I dragged my feet out of the compartment and a step closer to hell...  
  
DRACO'S POV :  
  
I walked out of the head compartment feeling hot behind the ears. Flashes of the kiss I shared with Granger repeated itself in my mind. Damn! What the heck was I thinking?! KISSING GRANGER!! Uhhh...!!!  
My eyebrows furrowed, and I felt positively disgusted! UGH! Curse those stupid hormones...  
  
_ Still, you've got to admit, that WAS the greatest kiss you've ever had!_ a stupid voice in my head whispered.  
  
Oh – stupid voices!  
  
_Hey! WHO on earth are you calling STUPID?!_ the voice screamed. If it wasn't just my mind playing dumb tricks on me, I would've pummeled it to the ground.  
  
"DRAKIE!!" a freakin' high-pitched voice screamed in my ear. Dear god. Pansy. "DRAKIE POO!!"  
Pansy rushed to my side, her horrible _FAKE_ blonde hair trailing behind here. I think I'm about to hurl!  
"Drakie! Oh, Drakie, I was sooo woried!" she said, smiling a horrible smile, "The mere thought of leaving you with that RETCHED Mudblood made me want to hurl!" I really wanted to say 'You really make me want to hurl', but I didn't. "Are you okay, baby? Did that nasty, ugly Mudblood do anything to you? You look flushed, baby! Oh, poor baby!! I'll make it all better – I promise!"  
"Pansy...," I said through clenched teeth, "I've got bussiness to attend to."  
Pansy looked a little put down. Good! Hah! "Oh, alright, baby. But I swear – if that ogre of a girl dare lay a finger on you, I'll kill her!"  
I rolled my eyes. Yeah, right... Pansy – kill Granger? Hah! More like _Granger_ kill _Pansy_. One look at Granger's dark glare could send Pansy six feet under.  
"Good-bye, Pansy!" I said, hoping that she would take the hint and LEAVE! When she didn't, I pushed her roughly out of my path and stormed out of the train. Stupid Pansy! Stupid no-good ugly fan-girls! Stupid –  
"Malfoy!" a voice shouted from behind.  
-- Granger...  
I spun my head around, only to see Herm — er..., GRANGER, rushing to me. Now this type of rushing (slash running, I suppose) was completely different from how Pansy made me feel (that is, throwing up). _THIS_ type of running sent spiders down my spine, clouds through my head, and butterflies in my stomache. _THIS_ type of running made my whole body feel hot and vulnerable. She totally captured my breath away; the way she ran, her beautiful dark brown hair trailing behind her, her remarkable eyes sparkling, her soft pink lips looked ever so kissable...  
Oh, HOLY S! No! Bad hormones. Hermione's – I mean – Granger's lips are _NOT_ kissable. She is _NOT_ pretty. And you do _NOT_ like Mud – mud – err... w-w-what was I about t-to say...?  
"Malfoy!" Granger huffed, looking tired and sore. "McGonnagle said we've got to take charge of the prefects. Did you order them to line up the first years yet? Uh... Malfoy? Malfoy?"  
I didn't catch a bloody word she said. All I could do was stare at her. How she blinked, how she breathed, how she moved those lucious pink lips...  
Before I knew it Granger's hand went flying and landed with a soft 'SMACK' against my face.  
"Holy s, woman!" I said, rubbing the spot where she hit me, "What the HELL do you think you're doing?!"  
Granger smirked, sending shivers down my spine. "Sorry, Malfoy. But I've got to snap you out of your trance somehow," she said in a monotone, "So, to answer my question, did you order the prefects to line up the first years?"  
"Yes!" I growled. Sheesh. Can't that woman GIVE IT A REST already? "So if you'll excuse me, I've got to find a carriage now."  
Granger arched up a brow. "You're going to find a carriage over there... when our carriage is over (she pointed to her left) here?"  
My eyes widened. "We're g-going to share a carriage together?" I said. Oh, no. _PLEASE_ let her say no!  
Granger nodded a yes.  
NOOOOOOO!!! Not only do I have to sit with Granger in one compartment for 5 HOURS, but now I've got share a small, TIGHT carriage with her... for 23 minutes! Oh... I began to panic. I hope the stories aren't true. I hope all the rest of the Heads' never snogged in there. I nervously laughed, remembering that stupid muggle game I read about a boy and a girl staying in a closet for 5 minutes. If 5 minutes can get two people snogging passionately... what about 23 minutes?! Oh god...  
  
HERMIONE'S POV :  
  
I watched in amusement as Malfoy began to freak. His skin turned pale (well paler than usual), then pink, pale again, pink. It was so funny how people could change to a variety of colours.  
"Malfoy?" I said, breaking whatever stupid thing was going through Malfoy's stupid head.  
"Yes?" Malfoy squeeked. I tried to stiffle a laugh.  
"Let's get in, shall we?"  
Malfoy turned an unusual colour. Bright red. It didn't suit him at all! And I was damn glad about it!  
Slowly I walked into the horseless carriage. The weather was quite windy, so my hair went flying behind me. I turned around to see an even embarassed Malfoy. Snort. What's got him all worked up I'd like to know.  
"Come on, Malfoy!" I said impatiently, "D'you want this carriage to leave without you?"  
Malfoy gave a small nod. His cheeks were burning like a tomato. This was an awfully weird sight.  
I rolled my eyes. "Just come in, damn it!"  
Malfoy stood his ground for a while, then, slowly he made his way inside.  
"Er... heheh... yeah... small, isn't it...?" he said, rather nervously.  
I nodded. And then... silence.  
I stared out the window, at the scenery and how it turned to blurs when the carriage moved.  
"Er... Granger...," Malfoy mumbled quietly, "A-about you and the, er, Golden Duo...? W-whats up with that...?"  
Silence. I really didn't want to answer that.  
"Granger...?"  
I balled my hands into fists. My finger nails sunk into my skin causing a tremendous pain. I couldn't be bothered. "It's. none. of. your. bussiness," I growled, swallowing my tears down.  
Silence.  
I could feel Malfoy's stare. He was trying to make eye contact. Hmph! He is _NOT_ going to get it from me. I know exactly what this is about! I've read it once in a magazine how humans (either muggle or wizard) can reach down into someones soul by staring really hard into their eyes. I am not sharing my soul, or thoughts for that matter, with anyone. Not even occlumency can read my mind. I've made a barrier against it all. Nobody can read me. If they could, then they've got some impossible power that the Dark Lord himself does not possess.  
The carriage screeched to a halt. Trying to look at anything but Malfoy, I jumped out of the carriage and walked into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I walked into Hell...  
  
DRACO'S POV :  
  
I tried to make eye contact with Granger when we were in the carriage (speaking of that, I'm glad I survived!) but came out with nothing. She was trying too hard to lock it all up. However, I did catch some of it through the silence. I think I saw a tad bit glimmer of fear in it. What was she afraid of? Me...?  
I cursed myself for not inspecting her closer, and made a run into Hogwarts.  
  
I entered the Great Hall (I seriously don't understand whats so great about it) with a scowl on my face. To my surprise, everybody was lining up for something. I stood on my toes (I'm NOT SHORT! It's people that're tall!) to see what the commotion was. Damn it! I CAN'T SEE ANYTHING!  
Then, as if on cue, Dumbledore stood up, cleared his throat, and said with a calm voice; "Students, we have a few technical difficulties with the er... sorting...,"  
_Technical defficulties?_ But that's impossible... isn't it?  
Dumbledore cleared his throat again. "To clear up these umm... problems... we at Hogwarts decided to re-sort each of you. Minerva, will you please?"  
Professor McGonnagle walked up to the front of the Great (not-so- Great) Hall and cleared her throat (whats up with this clearing-throat thing?) and said, "When I call up your name, you will come up and place ths Sorting Hat on your head."  
I heard Longbottom gulp behind me. Poor fool.  
"We'll start from seventh years. Ahem. Abes, Joey!" McGonnagle said loudly.  
With a nervous look on his darkly tanned skinned face, Joey Abes walked up to the front and placed the Sorting Hat on his head.  
A pause of silence, and then, "RAVENCLAW!!"  
Polite clapping from all the students were heard. No hooting or loud cheering however like there used to be when a new student entered their house.  
"Arcentosh, Rowe!"  
I recognized the dark face that was Arcentosh. He was a Slytherin of my year. Arcentosh walked up to the stool, placed the hat on his head, and in a few seconds the Sorting Hat's voice boomed, "SLYTHERIN!!"  
I smirked. This wouldn't be a problem for me...  
45 minutes passed. All the students and staff members grew extremely restless.  
"Malfoy, Draco!"  
Smirking, I walked over to the stool and placed the Sorting Hat on my head.  
  
_Ahh... Mr. Malfoy... we meet again..._ the sorting hat whispered in my mind  
_Shut up, you stupid hat tell me what house I'm in!_ I growled in reply.  
_Very well then_  
  
Then out loud it said, "SLYTHERIN!!!"  
Everybody from Slytherin (even though they were about to be resorted) cheered loudly. It was as if I had brought a new hope into them. I smirked. The Prince of Slytherin is back!  
Then suddenly, Proffesor McGonnagle broke me from my thoughts again. "Granger, Hermione!"  
I raised a brow at Granger's direction. I watched as she walked up to the stool and gently placed the Sorting Hat on her head. I sighed. Even with an extremely worn-out ugly hat on her head, she still looked lovely.  
A pause of silence. This was much longer than anyone elses. Then, the rip of the hat's mouth opened.  
**"SLYTHERIN!!!"  
**  
_Hi! Me again! Sorry if I'm so sickening. By the way, I hope you got the hint about the "reading soul" thing. Hermione said that (take note if you want to know whats coming up next) NOBODY COULD READ HER SOUL. Draco said he saw a GLIMMER OF FEAR IN HER EYES. If nobody could read or understand Hermione's thoughts and feelings, how come Draco can? I gave you HUGE hints there. Anyways, I'm sorry everybody was OOC (Especially Hermione) but people can change, can't they? Okay, so..._  
  
**PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!**


	4. Threats After Luck

_Yo, its me again! I'm sorry for taking so long, but I was really busy (with a bunch of crappy school stuff) and the internet didn't work. Now that I've got a Windows XP in MY ROOM, things will probably go a lot faster! I'm so happy (I used to have Windows 1998 in my room. Windows ME was in the family area. But you don't need to know that)!! So, on with the story! I warn you though, its very stupid and not at all to the point. I wasn't in my zones. REVIEW, because I won't continue with chapter 5 until I get 5 or more reviews, got it? Those of you who want to know the rest of the story, but are too lazy to review, I suggest you move your little mouse and click the review button. Saying, "CONTINUE!" is good enough for me. Just **REVIEW!!  
**_  
HERMIONE'S POV  
  
I took the Sorting Hat off my head, looking dissapointed. Sure I asked for a change in House, but honestly... _SLYTHERIN?!_ God, that's sick! I never imagined myself to be power-hungry...  
However, the frown on my face was immediately replaced with a smirk when I saw the horrified look on everyone's faces. Truly a sight to remember! Even Snape was shocked!  
Feeling a little smug, I walked over to the Slytherin table where my fellow Slytherins (The ones that have been sorted) were gawking at me like I was some demonic creature. I caught Malfoy's eye, he looked as pale as a ghost. My mood dropped a bit. Was he that horrified to have me as a housemate? I quickly swallowed that feeling and told myself not to care about what people think. Caring was for the weak.  
I put on a smirk and directed my attention to Malfoy, "Are you THAT surprised I'm a Slytherin, Malfoy?" I taunted.  
The look on Malfoy's face told me that I had pulled him back down to reality. He sneered at me. "Slytherin or not, you're still a Mudblood!" he spat nastily.  
The colour drowned from my face. How DARE he!! That bloody, good-for- nothing, disgrace for a human FERRET!! Anger boiled up inside me, I had never felt so angry at being called a Mudblood in my whole freakin' life. My brown eyes flared menacingly and I gave Malfoy a cold, hard glare (One that can give Voldieshorts a taste of his own medicine).  
"How dare you say that...," I whispered menacingly (Everything about me seemed menacing at the moment) at him. "How the f hell dare you say that...,"  
Everything went dark. It was as though a shadow had fallen over the Hall. The only source of light came from my eyes, which burned madly. Malfoy and I were the only two LIVING beings at the moment. Everyone else (Including the all mighty Dumbledore) looked petrified or something.  
I saw Malfoy shudder. His steel gray eyes emited fear beyond all fear. I hated him. EVERYTHING about him. His bloody eyes, hideous pale skin, disgusting blonde hair... I wanted to choke him, rip him limb from limb...  
"Get the hell away fom me, Malfoy...," I spat at him, "Don't try to read me... Don't dare talk to me... You know NOTHING about me so DON'T bother me!!"  
I thought that Malfoy would nod his head yes, shudder in fear; scream at the top of his bloody sickening voice... but he didn't. Instead he looked at me. Looked at me straight in the eye and said, "No."  
I stared at him, extremely shocked. "Fine, Malfoy...," I said through clenched teeth. "But just so you'd know... I may be a Mudblood – but I'm a powerful Mudblood... so watch your back!"  
Malfoy just sneered. "Back at you, Granger!" he spat, trying to act brave – but I knew better. I knew he was scared out of his mind.  
I gave him one final glare before everything went back to normal. Swearing under my breath, I spun my head around and took a seat away from Malfoy.  
"Hey," a voice said from beside me.  
I turned to my left to see whoever it was that greeted me. It was a boy with copper brown hair, sparkling blue eyes, dark skin and a very nice smile. "Hello...," I muttered in reply. I was still angry at Malfoy but I hid all emotion from him.  
The boy stuck an arm out in front of me and dazzled me once again with his brilliant smile. I rolled my eyes. What a liar... "I'm Rowe Arcentosh," he said, "And you must be Hermione Granger! Pleasure to meet you!"  
I rolled my eyes again. Maybe he didn't know what I was... Its best I tell him now... "Look, Arcentosh," I said flatly, "I'm a Mudblood, so I understand if you're disgusted. You may put that hand of yours down and be sure that I won't utter a word of this meeting...,"  
Arcentosh continued to smile. "I don't mind. Blood is not what makes the witch as I always say," he said cheerfully, "And seeing how high your grades are, I believe my theory is correct!"  
I felt a smile creep up on my face (I quickly stopped it with a frown). He didn't care! He didn't care!! I was practically bouncing with joy – though I didn't dare show it. Slowly, I took Arcentosh's hand and shook it. "Pleasure is all mine!" I said, making Rowe smile again.  
I actually have a FRIEND!  
  
DRACO'S POV :  
  
I stared at Granger as she took Arcentosh's hand and shook it. As angry as I was at her, I couldn't help but feel a little scared for her as well. Didn't she know? The Arcentosh family is VERY powerful and knows a lot about the Dark Arts. They hated dirty blood and are huge supporters of Voldemort. Why on earth is he (Rowe) mixing with Granger??  
Tired of thinking to much, I scanned the Not-So-Great Hall and spotted Potty Boy and Carrot Top. I sneered and made my way towards them. This might just be my chance to find out what happened to them last year...  
"Hey, Pothead and Weasel!" I said, giving them a smirk. "Still Gryffindores I see!"  
Potter didn't say anything. He just stared blankly at me like I wasn't there at all. Weasley however pounced right at me, screaming horrible curses in the process. Since nobody bothered to hold him down, I was stuck with a bloody nose.  
"Ahh... f---, Weasel!" I shouted, wiping the blood that dripped down my nose. I felt like punching him back but decided not too. I was, after all, Head Boy. "You know what, Weasel? Fifty points from Gryffindore!"  
I watched in amusement as Weasel grumbled and fought himself from jumping on me again.  
"What's that, Weasel?" I said, putting a hand behind my ear to pretend I didn't hear him. "Malfoy is a slimy git? Oh... I think this calls for another fifty points from Gryffindore, don't you think, Pothead?"  
Potter didn't answer. "Brilliant!" I said, smirking again. "Fifty points from Gryffindore then!!" I gave them one last sneer before walking back to the Slytherin table. Weasel was looking furious at me, but being the NICE boy that I was, I didn't bother taking fifty points from Gryffindore again. Instead I settled with fifty-five points! HAH! Aren't I sweet?  
  
Moments later (one in a half hours to be exact), the Sorting Ceremony ended. Students and professors that were having an uncomfortable snooze on their empty plates (the food didn't come yet. So you can imagine Weasley's face) were awoken by Dumbledore's insufferable Phoenix-thing (The stupid bird kept pecking on my beautiful hair!! STUPID, GOOD-FOR-NOTHING BIRD!!).  
"Students!" Dumbledore said, his voice booming throughout the Not-So- Great Hall, "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! I do so hope you had a peaceful nap," The stupid old man's eyes twinkled and everyone who'd been pecked by his stupid bird cursed. "Now, to get a few things settled – I'd like to warn you, as I do every year, NOT to enter the Forbidden Forest. I am very sure that none of you would like to suffer a bloody death... Now, it is, as you know, tradition that I read out everything you shouldn't do at Hogwarts, but since by the look on your faces...we wouldn't read that out... Instead, I'd like to get straight to the point... Students, I'd like to introduce you to your new Defence Against Dark Arts professor, Professor Nymphadora Tonks (A/N: I forgot how to spell her name... I don't have the book with me at the moment)!"  
A tall woman with moss-green hair and a rather long nose (Hah! Reminds me of Weasel!!) stood up. She gave the Hall a clumsy curtsey (Nobody bothered to laugh because they, including myself, were too tired) and sat back down.  
"Now, the moment we've all been waiting for...," Dumbledore did a little thing with his wand and all the plates were filled with food, "Now we EAT!!"  
The Not-So-Great Hall was filled with swears of all sorts. I nodded in agreement to what Blaise Zambini said ("This stupid school should be sued! Letting us starve like that! There should be a law for this! I'm telling my Father about this-this—crime against humanity!!) and took a large bite out of my turkey sanwich.  
I let my eyes trail off a bit. Nothing caught my fancy... until I found Granger... She was busy chomping down on a drumstick and talking to Arcentosh. I felt angry again. That bloody Arcentosh fool! I felt like ripping him apart! From the expression on Granger's face, people would think she was unhappy – tired even of talking to Arcentosh. Of course, knowing her... she felt the complete opposite. I knew she was happy. I knew that that was the best feeling she felt in ages... I knew I should be happy for her, but I wasn't. I wanted to crush Arcentosh to little pieces. I wanted Granger to be happy, sure... But I wanted her to be happy with ME.  
Wait a minute! HAPPY WITH ME?! Where the f did that come from?! Ugh. This is so confusing! Bloody hormones...  
  
An hour later, everyone had a satisfied and sleepy look on their faces. Same went for me. I was practically nodding myself to sleep.  
"Mr. Malfoy, Ms. Granger," said Dumbledore from behind me. I wasn't the least bit surprised that he suddenly came up... I was much to sleepy to feel...  
"Yes, Professor?" I said, straining the yawn that was trying to escape my lips.  
"Please follow me to the Head Dormitory," said Dumbledore. Both Granger and I gave a nod and followed sleepily to where he was going.  
A few minutes passed, and I felt like fainting in exhaustion. We finally arrived.  
"Here you go," said Dumbledore, "Go ahead and think of a suitable password... pleasant dreams."  
Once Dumbledore left, Granger said, "Is Shit an okay password for you?"  
"Yeah, sure... whatever, Gran Yawn... Granger...," I mumbled, my eyelids practically closed.  
Granger shrugged and said the password.  
"Oh, my!" I heard the portrait said. I didn't see how the portrait looked because my eyes were closed. "Are you sure you want to name it that, dearie?"  
"Yes," Granger growled, frightening the portrait.  
"Alright, dear," said the portrait, opening itself up.  
I let out another yawn and stumbled into my room. Too tired of explaining how the room looked, I stumbled into what I assumed to be my room and immediately passed out on my bed. Dear bed... how I love thee...  
  
HERMIONE'S POV :  
  
My head ached badly and my whole body felt numb with weariness. I flopped down on the bed (Seeing what mood I'm in now, you don't expect me to explain how the room looks, do you? If you do, then you're a selfish brat! Just get a mental picture, will you?!). Mmm... I felt so tired... but my mind was still spinning with activity. I tried to swallow away the little incident I had today, but Pansy Parkinson's horrible voice still rang in my ears.  
  
_**Flashback  
**_  
"Ew!" Pansy screeched. Her voice sounded like a dozen nails scratching on a blackboard. It was THAT bad. "Look at _THAT _hair! It's horrendous! Who styled it – her Muggle grandmother?!"  
I clenched my fists. "Ignore her," Rowe muttered beside me. "She's just a slut. Ignore her...,"  
"Does she _THINK_ she's _PRETTY?!" _said Pansy – a lot louder than before. Did I say a dozen nails? Please excuse me. What I meant to say was TWO DOZEN. "Can you believe Arcentosh even hangs out with HER?! EW!! Isn't it great how Pothead and Weasel finally got rid of her? About time too!!"  
That's it. Parkinson has gone too far. She just placed her troll-like foot passed the sacred line. "Shut up, Parkinson," I spat menacingly. It was barely above a whisper but as deadly as a thousand daggers.  
Pansy twirled her body around. She locked her eyes on me and smirked. "Oh! Looky here, girls!" she said, calling in her little posse. "The little _THING_ talks! F------ good, isn't it?!"  
I grinded my teeth together, determined not to blow. "Shut _up_, Parkinson," I repeated. Poison dripping acidly down each sentence.  
"What's that, Granger?" mocked Pansy. "I believe there was too much dirt coming out of your mouth. It blocked your sentence!"  
Anger ranged inside me. I stood at my full height (I was usually slumped back) and gave her a glower. "I SAID SHUT THE F--- UP, YOU SLUTTY A--ED B---- !!"  
Pansy stared; bewildered at me. "What did you say...?" she finally managed to choke out.  
I gave her a piercing glare. "You heard me...," I whispered nastily. "Shut _up_."  
Pansy fell back in fright but quickly regained herself. "You should be grateful, Mudblood," she mumbled. "You made it to the best house. Slytherin! We may be housemates, but that doesn't mean you're one of us."  
"Thank God!" I muttered; loud enough for Pansy and her gang to hear.  
Pansy glared again. "Enjoy it while you can, Mudblood," she muttered. "Enjoy it while you can..."

_**End Flashback**_

I did not feel the least bit intimidated. Pansy wants a fight...? She's got it. I wasn't Hermione Granger, smartest and strongest witch in Hogwarts for nothing.  
My lips twisted into a smirk. Hmmm... maybe this change of house wasn't such a bad thing after all... Heh. This is a very nice change of things. VERY nice indeed...  
  
_Hey!! How do you like chapter 4? Terrible, wasn't it? I warned you! I did this to quicken the pace and I was kind of er... happy that time. I'm not always in a pissed out mood so it doesn't come out very gothic-ish, you know? Please review if you want me to finish this story!!_  
  
_PS: **DO NOT FLAME!!** Please keep your nasty swears to yourself! I repeat,** DO NOT** **FLAME!!** You think its stupid; criticize. There are **DIFFERENCES **between a flamer and a critic. **I AM ONLY A FREAKY 13 YEAR OLD INTERESTED IN SPILLING OUT MY ANGER/THOUGHTS!!!** That's the whole reason of Fan Fiction. You release your thoughts! If you WANT the characters to be OUT OF CHARACTER, so do it! I don't like Ginny and Draco shipping, but that doesn't mean I flame people who do. I'm sorry about this extra long author's note, but I need to get this out of my head. Please **REVIEW!!**_


	5. Hermione's Little Secret

_WHOA!! That was fast!! I can't believe I did this so quickly, but I did! WOW! I'm really in one of those zones. Okay, before I start, I'd like to thank ALL you reviewers! You guys ROCK!!!! This chapter is just for you. Don't forget to review!! Remember 5 or more reviews, that's the deal. Now, happy reading! _  
  
DRACO'S POV :  
  
I awoke this morning feeling refreshed and slightly happy. I hopped (Not literary) out of bed and hummed a tune I heard during the holidays. I knew this was very out of character, but I was in a good mood (You know the feeling you get while you're in a good mood).  
"Malfoy! Shut up!!" Granger's voice shouted from outside my room.  
Sheesh... Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed today! Just to get Granger pissed, I decided I'd sing a little louder. And I did. Infact, I sang at the top of my voice – very badly.  
"AARGH!! You bloody FERRET!! SHUT UP!!" shouted Granger. I pictured the look on her face, and grinned wickedly.  
"I'M SOOO PERFECT!! I'M SOOO PERFECT!!! ALL THE CHICKS DIG ME!! CAN'T YOU SEE?!?! YOU'RE PASSING UP AN OPPURTUNITY!!! DON'T YOU WANNA BE WITH MEEEE????!!!!" I shouted this as loud as I could, with no tune in particular. To be honest, it wasn't even a real song. I just knew it'd piss Granger out and shouted it badly to her. I am a little devil aren't I? Yes I am.  
"MALFOY!!" Granger screamed, banging hardly on my room door.  
I smirked. I just LOVE getting on her nerves. "Yes, oh precious little Mudblood of mine?" I replied in an innocent voice. This kind of thing could cause her to explode. Literary.  
"Would you just shut the up, asshole?! SOME of us are trying to sleep you know!!!"  
I checked my watch. "Sleep?" I repeated. "Whatever for? It's 7:32 AM and class starts at eight. You don't want to miss class, do you Granger?" I knew that although Granger has encountered a huge change, the little goody- two-shoes, can't be late for class thing is still buried deep inside her. It's what she is. If that changes, you'd have a completely different person at your hands.  
I heard Granger groan and put on a triumphant smirk. "Fine, Malfoy," she growled. "— Just – shut up, okay?"  
"Sorry," I replied. "But I don't take orders from mudbloods."  
Granger glowered a bit, and left – I knew this for the fact that her loud stomping faded away.  
  
"— d'you know what Longbottom did last night – when we were walking to the common room? He pissed in his pants! Just after I frightened him with a spell, you know. HE ACTUALLY DID! I could swear it!"  
The Not-So-Great Hall erupted with laughter, some people even pointed at Longbottom and others tried hard not to laugh. As for me? I was the loudest of them all. I even cheered the crowd on and stood up on my seat.  
Blaise Zambini (The boy who was telling the joke) had told us Slytherins this story a hundred times, but we wanted to humiliate Longbottom in front of the whole student population. Just for fun.  
"– It was – So damn stupid!! Even a Hufflepuff first year didn't do THAT!! Can you believe what a sissy Longbottom is?!" said Blaise, loudly enough for the whole hall to hear. "And remember that-,"  
"Shut up, Zambini!"  
Blaise immediately silenced and turned to see who it was who dared shut him up. Zambini was like second in command of the Slytherin house (I was the first) and nobody would ever speak up to him. He was like, God's right hand man (I'm God – not really – by the way).  
"Mudblood!" spat Blaise, turning his focus on her. He gave her a sharp glare which could scare the pants off Longbottom any day. Of course, I've faced worse. I've faced Granger.  
Granger walked slowly up to Blaise. She let her eyes bore right through him; as though sipping out his courage. With grace I never imagined one to possess, Granger stood up in front of him – only centimeters away from touching his chest (Her head reached his shoulder).  
"G-get away, Mudblood!" spoke Blaise, and as I expected, his courage was slowly seeping away from him – like a basin filled with water; the water flowing out from the tiny hole in the bottom of the basin.  
"Why don't you make me?" taunted Granger, her voice barely above a whisper. "Prince of Slytherins, number two in command... I've already dealt with your little king..."  
Everybody turned to me, a shocked expression on each of their face. I made out Weasley's expression – wide eyed and jaw hanging down. Even Potter was a little surprised.  
Granger's focus was still on Zambini. "So show me what you could do. Make me see what a Slytherin is all about..."  
Blaise looked hesitant. I could sense what he was thinking—what if there were Professors around? He could get thrown out of Hogwarts (Not that it was bad or anything, but his parents would get awfully pissed).  
"Don't worry, Zambini...," said Granger, as though she knew what he was thinking. "They won't be around to see..."  
Granger lightly shut her eyes and the colour suddenly drained from her skin. I myself felt odd and suddenly weakening. My muscles felt limp and wobbly. I felt unsteady and nauseous, cold and hot at the same time. From the inside I felt burned, from the outside I felt extremely cold. The tips of my fingers and toes were frosty with ice – as though I had suffered some insufferable death but life still flared up inside me.  
  
The air was frosty, even my breath came out as a cloud of white smoke. The ground felt damp and as unsteady as ice. The wind was so cold; it felt sharp against my skin. The only colour around me was midnight blue, but unlike the sky at night, there wasn't any pale moon or scattered stars. The only light came from my eyes; a piercing blue light that was bright enough to lighten the way.  
_Where was I?  
_ Even as I thought of that in my mind, I got a reply. A hollow, yet feminine reply that I knew wasn't the normal voice in my head. "Oblivion," said the voice; sharp and frosty like a dagger covered in ice. "A part of my mind and soul... you aren't supposed to be here."  
"Who are you?" I quivered, trying to follow the direction of where the voice was coming from. "Granger?!" I gasped once I found the source of the reply.  
Granger turned towards me. She also had light glowing from her eyes. But the light wasn't blue – it was red. Blood red. The same colour I loved. The same colour of my birthmark – a mysterious half moon painted in blood red.  
"What are you doing here?" she repeated. She looked as pale as I did. It looked kind of frightening.  
"I don't know...," I muttered truthfully. "Where am I?"  
"I've told you already!" said Granger, crossing her pale arms together. She looked like a banshee (Gorgeous banshee, but banshee nonetheless). "You're in Oblivion. It's a place I've discovered during the holidays... all I've got to do is concentrate – put my whole mind to this place – and I'm here. It's part of my soul."  
I didn't understand, but I nodded nonetheless. I was afraid. Granger... wasn't normal... Who – WHAT was she? Then, I suddenly noticed something – something pale and motionless behind Granger. It looked like a body; a HUMAN'S body!  
"Granger, did you...? Isn't that Zambini??" I chocked. This was too much, even for me. Did Granger just kill someone?  
"Yes... and no...," said Granger, her lips twisting into a devious smirk. "That is Zambini, Malfoy... but he isn't dead. Only petrified; fully petrified, that is..."  
"Fully petrified?"  
"Yes, Malfoy. Fully petrified. It's a simple process once you've gotten the hang of it," said Granger, looking smug and in control. "Fully petrified is different from the stuff the basilisk does. If the predator is fully petrified, the predator won't hear, feel, sense, or see a thing. Being half petrified, you can hear, feel, sense and see – but can't do anything."  
Granger's superior expression faded a bit. I caught a glimpse of sadness in her glowing red eyes. I now remember about the little encounter she's had with the basilisk in the second year. Although her mouth was tightly shut, I could hear her sad voice echoing through my mind. "Back then Harry and Ron actually cared for me...," said her voice, full of wet tears I could almost feel. "Harry sat by my side then... he held my hand for hours... I wish... I wish I were back there... in that time... happy..."  
I felt her pain and tears welled in my eyes. It was weird... why was I sad? Why was I suddenly getting flashbacks of her happy days with the Wonder Duo? Then, I suddenly got a mental image of Hermi – er..., Granger standing outside the Griffindore common room — staring at Potter and Cho Chang with a look of horror on her face. I felt anger flare up inside me; burning my soul... strengthening my heart. This newly found anger gave me a feel of power.  
Then... it stopped. The mental images I'd been having disappeared. Granger was trying to resist, I knew that. I also knew that I'll never forget that surge of power... that rush of anger... flow of sadness... I knew her secret now, she won't erase that from my mind. I'll resist.  
"D-did... you...?" squeaked Granger; eyes wide in horror. But she didn't need to continue. I understood perfectly. She was afraid I knew, and I did.  
"Yes," I muttered.  
I could feel Granger's heart stop a beat. "W-will you... tell anyone...?" she whispered. I could feel her horror.  
"I have a good mind of telling Dumbledore, you know," I told her. "But... I won't. Not now, that is."  
I felt Granger heave a sigh of relief. But I won't let her go that easily. It wasn't the Malfoy way. "But you've got to tell me, Granger! Tell me, truthfully, how did you discover this power? Where did you get it?" I pulled her closer to me and held her tightly by the shoulders. I was dead serious.  
"I... don't know...," muttered Granger. Her eyes cast downwards. It took guts for her to admit this. Being the school's brightest witch and admitting you didn't know something was very difficult.  
"How did you discover it then?"  
Granger bit her bottom lip and stayed silent.  
"I'm dead serious here, Granger! Tell me or I'll tell on you!" I said, squeezing her shoulders harshly.  
"I... it was during the holidays...," said Granger. I knew this wasn't going to be a short story, so I settled myself on the freezing cold ground. I pulled her down beside me. "I was... er... angry and hurt-,"  
"Hurt? How did you get hurt? Did somebody hurt you?" I interrupted, truly concerned.  
Granger rolled her eyes. "No," said Granger. "I... uh, fell down the stairs and got angry and er... closed my eyes tightly – getting a mental picture of Oblivion. The place I created for safety..."  
"Safety?" I interrupted again. "Why? Are you bullied? Abused?"  
Granger paled. "No!" she shouted, a little too quickly. "I'm just... er... clumsy, you know? I am a MUDBLOOD after all."  
I winced and felt a little guilty. But that feeling didn't last long – I was Malfoy after all. "Continue." I urged.  
"Well... I kept thinking of that – Oblivion," said Granger. "I closed my eyes after every... uh... accident and after a while, that thought became reality. That's it."  
I raised my eyebrow. "Not even Voldemort could do that," I said, staring down at her. Then I remembered Zambini. "How did you bring him down here?"  
With that question, Granger's lips twisted into a wicked smirk. "Oh, I just pictured having a little duel with him in Oblivion. Nobody could see us, so we won't get suspended."  
"How come he's petrified then?"  
Granger shrugged. "Everybody who comes to Oblivion becomes petrified. People in Life won't remember they're gone. I'm the only one that can enter... Well, other than you that is."  
"How did I get here then?"  
"I don't know... you weren't supposed to be here..."  
"What about our eyes?" I asked, pointing at my glowing midnight blue eyes. "How come we're the only ones that have these?"  
Granger shrugged again. "I don't really know anything about all these strange happenings, Malfoy," she said. I could tell she wasn't lying. "I just do it because I can. I didn't bother to question why... or how... It just is."  
I pondered this for a moment. "Granger, lets make a deal," I said, and seeing her questioning look, I continued, "I won't let out your little secret, if you promise to help me..."  
Granger raised an eyebrow. "Promise to help you what?"  
I grinned. "Promise me you'd help me figure out this little mystery. Why you can enter Oblivion... why I can enter Oblivion... Everything... Do we have a deal?"  
Granger hesitated, but in the end, she took my hand and shook it. "It's a deal, Malfoy."  
"Great. Now get us out of here."  
  
HERMIONE'S POV:  
  
I opened my eyes and in a flash, Oblivion evaporated. Frost still hung from my finger tips and toes, but I shook it off and put an empty expression on my face.  
"Here!" I muttered, throwing Zambini's limp form in front of a shivering Malfoy. "Everything will turn back to normal in a few seconds... be prepared to act natural."  
Malfoy gave a crisp nod and shook the frost off his chin.  
The ground below our feet shook a bit before everything turned back to normal. All this never happened. I was still pissed with Zambini – I didn't make a deal with the ferret from hell.  
"So? Why won't they see, Mudblood?" said Zambini. "We have to end this. I'll show you what a TRUE Slytherin (He glared at Malfoy) is all about!"  
I shrugged. I don't care if he beat the crap out of Malfoy – in fact I want him to beat the crap out of Malfoy. "Fine then. Meet me in the Astronomy Tower tonight, Zambini," I whispered so only he could here. "We'll end it then."  
Zambini gave me a sneer, showed his middle finger at Malfoy and walked back towards his seat.  
"What the hell, Granger?" said Malfoy once Zambini left. "You're going to get into trouble! Zambini can beat the crap out of you!"  
I shrugged. "Yeah right, I'm not the least bit intimidated." I said carelessly.  
Malfoy gave me a concerned stare. "Granger, this isn't Griffindore. We aren't all friendly with each other even if we're in the same house, you know! You're getting up to a wrong start! You're already getting enemies on your first day!"  
I shrugged again. "I can handle it, you know," I said. "Now, if you don't mind, I've got a breakfast to finish."  
  
Damn, I'm late! I fixed my hair, dusted my robes, and ran towards the dungeons like my life depended on it. Damn, damn, damn, damn!!  
"Rowe! Come on! We're going to be late!" I said without turning back. I gasped for breath as my feet ran on instinct. "Snape – is – gonna – kill – me!!"  
"Wait up, 'Mione!" shouted Rowe, trying to catch up with me. "Besides, you're Slytherin now, remember?"  
But I didn't hear that. My feet were too busy running and I tried desperately to breath in oxygen (These are the types of problems you get when you're running too hard). "Come ON, Rowe!" I shouted.  
"Professor!" I gasped once I reached Potions class. "I... was... sorry!" My usual empty, careless expression was replaced with my goody two shoes for a while.  
Snape stopped writing on the blackboard. "Very well, Miss Granger," he said, carelessly. "I understand your prefect duties."  
I raised an eyebrow. He never understood before. Then again, I AM Slytherin now.  
"Arcentosh, Granger, take your seats and take the ingredients for the Vision Potion (A/N: It sound stupid, I know. But I don't know what to name it!) from the ingredient cabinet, please."  
I nodded and walked towards the ingredient cabinet to pull out the ingredients needed. Beatle wings... Frog eyes... Snake skin... Black Lily pads... Gernipolls... and other weird items...  
Rowe and I followed the steps for the Vision Potion perfectly. After half an hour of slicing and brewing, Snape finally stood up and announced, "Once you're done with you're potions, you are required to drink it all down," he said. "If done correctly, you'll each get a vision of you're future. Be warned, these visions, whether good or bad, cannot be changed." Snape smirked in Harry's direction. "What comes, comes. Any questions?"  
Nada.  
"Good. You may drink now."  
I stared down at my cup of bubbling purple potion, shrugged, and swallowed it all down.  
The first thing that came in mind was – yuck! Then, I felt my knees weaken, my eyes swollen and my skin pale. I closed my eyes and suddenly, a blurred vision came to me.  
  
_**Vision**_  
  
It was a crisp cold night, fairly dark and stars sparkled bright in the sky. A breeze came from the north, whipping my hair.

"This is it...," somebody mumbled beside me. I nodded, not knowing why. "Wand ready?" that person asked. I nodded again, wand gripped tightly in my right hand. "How's your arm?" I asked.

"It's been better...," said the person. "Remember, Hermione. Focus." I nodded. "Eight more seconds...,"

Seven... I gripped my wand tighter until my fists turned white.

Six... Looking around, I saw Dumbledore, McGonnagle, Snape and a few others. Their wands were out – ready for attack.

Five... Perspire dripped down my forehead even through the chilly night. I could feel their presence. They were near.

Four... I gulped. Three more seconds...

Three... I could feel them. I gasped for air but my lungs were tied tightly.

Two... I needed oxygen...

One... I can't breath...

"HERMIONE, LOOK OUT!" said the voice before. It sounded urgent.

_A bright green flash._

I screamed. "DRACO!!!"  
  
_**End Vision  
**_  
My eyes snapped open, aware and afraid. The vision was so clear... it was so close... I turned around to look at Malfoy. "Help...," I mouthed to him.  
Malfoy nodded, a determined look on his face...  
  
_Okay, how was that? A lot of action/adventure coming up, eh? Of course there would be romance and jealousy as well! Don't forget to review! Who knows, if you're a good little boy/girl, I'll give you a cookie and the next chapter. I hope you liked this chapter. Who knows, I might continue after 7 or more reviews, so it's best to be on the safe side. More reviews = faster outcome. Cheers!! And don't forget to **REVIEW!!!**_


	6. The Symbol of The Full Moon

_Hi! Chapter 6 is officially up, yo! I'd like to thank all the nice reviewers who kindly helped me on this next chapter. If it wasn;t for you guys, I wouldn't continue at all. So... thanks. And for the rest of you guys that have read this story and want to continue reading it, REVIEW MY STORY! If I don't get 5 or more reviews, I WILL NOT CONTINUE! So all you lazy people out there, PLEASE REVIEW!! Just say "Continue" or something and you'll all get a cookie!  
  
PS; Here's a little cheerleading thing for y'all! Enjoy (Cough)!  
  
**C – O – O – K – I – E! **_

_**Here's a cookie just from me! **_

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_**Stop your dawdling, read and REVIEW!!!**  
_  
HERMIONE'S POV :  
  
To my relief, potions was finally over. I grabbed all my books, stuffed them in my bag, did a little weight-lifting charm and rushed out of the room.  
The vision was replaying itself as clearly as ever once I reached History class. The bright green flash made me shudder inwardly; but I remained expressionless.  
In my vision I had almost seen death – but that wasn't what puzzled or played in my mind the most. What I really want to know is why the hell had I been with Malfoy and why he had tried to save me. It wasn't such a big deal or anything, a human saving one of its own species and all, but still...  
"Please take out your History of Magic text books and turn to page 188...," said Professor Binns, interrupting me from my thoughts.  
I sighed and did as told. Never in my life had I wanted to take a sick day off this badly...  
  
Lunch today was slightly a tension for me. When I arrived at the Slytherin table to eat, everybody (Except for Malfoy and Rowe) there was smirking smugly at me. They had a glint in their eye that seemed to mean that something excitingly nasty was happening.  
"What the f--- are they all so damn smug about?" I hissed to Rowe after a few minutes of eerie smirks. It was weird. They weren't supposed to act superior with me! I was supposed to act superior with THEM!  
Rowe gave me a concerned look. "You didn't know?" he spoke. "There are rumors that Blaise Zambini is going to kill you tonight in the Astronomy Tower, Hermione!"  
I snorted. The f--- they're going to kill me. With one blink of an eye, I can send them hurling into Oblivion.  
"Hermione, be serious here!" said Rowe again. "Blaise Zambini is the third most powerful wizard in Hogwarts! You can get seriously injured, Hermione!"  
I rolled my eyes. "Zambini may be the third best wizard here, but I'm the first best witch! You don't suppose the first best witch can beat the third best wizard, do you?" I said, smirking slightly.  
"Hermione! Can you please just stop this?" pleaded Rowe. He looked dead serious. "You're my friend and I don't want you to get hurt, alright? You've already made enemies with Blaise and Pansy, don't make enemies with the rest of the Slytherins as well!"  
"And why ever not?" I said stubbornly. Just because Rowe's a friend, DOESN'T mean he has any right to tell ME what to do. "I can do whatever I want, Arcentosh! You don't control me!"  
Rowe, who was just about to speak up before me, shut his mouth. He had a hurt look on his face and it didn't help in boosting my coldness. I felt guilty.  
I sighed, signaling that I give up. "Rowe... sorry...," I muttered. "I got a little carried away there. I just... well, it's been long since I've had a real friend. I tend to act nasty to defend myself."  
"But why, 'Mione?" said Rowe, staring at me with deep concerned blue eyes. If I had the chance, I would have like a nice long swim in his eyes... it was like a swimming pool filled with water that forever sparkled. "Why must you try to hide who you are?"  
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath; trying real hard not to blow. Rowe was a good friend, but this is too personal. He mustn't know about this yet... it's too early. "I... can't... talk... about... it...," I muttered, hoping that Rowe would understand.  
He did in fact and it pleased me so. "So, about tonight, what are you going to do about Blaise? Are you still going to battle him?"  
I nodded, a look of determination set on tonight. "Yes," I said, clear and strong it sounded. "I've still got a bone to pick with him... and I won't rest easy until I rip him off his skin..."  
  
That night, while the stars were twinkling brightly outside my window, I slipped out of bed, grabbed a cloak and walked out of the Head Dormitory.  
The passageway floor was wet and rather cold beneath my bare feet, but that's the way I liked it in Oblivion. It was always so hot in there, so I needn't anything for warmth other than a light cloak.  
Portraits stared sleepily down at me from the walls, some even asked me where I was going, but I remained silent and walked on.  
Tap. Tap. Tap.  
A faint clicking sound followed from behind me. I stopped and strained my neck to see who it was. It was only the shadows floating around the corner. I shivered from the cold and shrugged the cloak further up on my shoulders. If I don't make it to Oblivion, and fast, then I'd probably freeze to death. Why's it so cold in here? Its like someone charmed the place so students won't creep out at night.  
Mental note to myself, never walk out of the dormitory in the middle of the night with only a nightgown and thin cloak.  
I shivered again and decided that I should hurry up a bit.  
  
I arrived at the Astronomy Tower with no trouble (Except for that little Filch incident. Thankfully Peeves was there). Unbuttoning my cloak, I reached for my wand, shivered, and walked inside.  
"So, Mudblood... you've arrived after all...," a voice greeted me. I knew through experience that Zambini was trying to scare me into chickening out. Hmph! I'll show him.  
"Hello, Zambini. Pleasant night, isn't it?" I said; voice barely above a whisper but as poison as ever. He's not the only one with tricks up his sleeves.  
Zambini snorted, walked over to me, and pushed me against a wall.  
Against my control, a groan of pain escaped my lips. It's not like I've never experienced these kind of things before, but the wall, the floor, and even Zambini's hand was cold. I needed to escape... to return to safety... I needed Oblivion.  
"Does it hurt Mudblood? The perfect little teacher's pet of a Mudblood, hurt?" taunted Zambini, pressing he's hand to my neck. "I bet you've never been hurt before than, eh? Well, there's a first time for everything!"  
Zambini's hands locked around my small neck; like a man ready to chop the head of an animal. – but what Zambini didn't know, is that I'm not just any animal. I'm a tiger – a hungry tiger ready to pounce on its prey.  
I grinned wickedly – which took Zambini by surprise – and closed my eyes; picturing Oblivion and all the power I'd have there.  
The familiar sensation came to me again. The colour drained from my skin – making me turn as pale as a ghost, my insides burned, and the cold I've experienced a few minutes ago were replaced with hell-like heat. But something weird happened – something that only happened once before. Instead of feeling completely burnt, my finger tips and toes were as frozen as ice. I immediately realized what happened. An unwanted presence had followed me into Oblivion again, and I think I knew who that unwanted person was...  
  
The air felt hot, like all the water vapor had evaporated from it. Sweat rolled down every fiber of my skin. The ground felt hot under my bare feet; like burning charcoal. Even so, my finger tips and toes were as solid and frozen as ice. I sighed... at least the colour of Oblivion was still the same. I don't think I could live with it being any colour other than this.  
Tap. Tap. Tap.  
Same sound I heard before, but instead of passing it by as a shadow, I rolled my eyes and realized it was Malfoy's expensive Italian leather shoes.  
"Malfoy... enough of this... just come out, a------," I said lazily. I hated these "Hide-and-Seek" games.  
Just as I expected, Malfoy walked out of the shadows; surprisingly shivering and frosted. "H-how c-c-can you s-s-survive i-in this c-c-c-cold, G-Granger??" he said, after a slight sneeze.  
I frowned at him. What cold? It was burning hell in here. "Here," I said, offering my cloak to him. "I don't need it. It's burning in here."  
Malfoy gave me a quizzical look, but swung the cloak over his body anyways.  
"Why are you here again, Malfoy?" I sighed, ready for an explanation. Malfoy had once again interrupted me from beating the shit out of Blaise Zambini. What was he? My bodyguard?!  
Malfoy shrugged (Which looked difficult under all those clothes he's wearing) and advanced too me – still shivering and kind of blue. "Don't mind me, Granger...," he said, shoving his hand into his pockets. "I'm not your bodyguard, and I wasn't hired to protect you. You want to get yourself killed over a silly thing Zambini said – then go ahead."  
I smirked – ignoring the sarcasm in his voice. "Alright, Malfoy," I said. "I will."  
Malfoy stood his ground as I walked over too Zambini. Staring down at he's petrified form on the ground, I felt no pity towards Zambini.  
He asked for it... the nasty voice in my head hissed. I smirked; not bothering to argue with my devil side. He did want a fight, did he not?  
"Awaken...," I mumbled to Zambini. I didn't know why, but as if on instinct, I bent down and let some hot breath escape my lips – thus hitting Zambini (My breath hit Zambini, not me).  
Zambini's eyes fluttered a bit before he let them settle themselves on me. He's brown eyes specked anger and confusion; but he only showed the anger. "Where the h--- am I, Mudblood?!" he yelled, once he realized that we weren't in the Astronomy tower anymore. "I-is this some idea of an ambush?! Just so I'd go out with you?!"  
I rolled my eyes. Boy was he a bright one (I'm being sarcastic, please).  
"Well, think again, Mudblood!" said Zambini, jumping up to he's feet to scare me. I wasn't scared... "I would NEVER date you! MUDBLOOD FILTH!'  
Again I rolled my eyes at him.  
"The f--- with you!" shouted Zambini, annoyance clearly getting to him. He balled his left hand into a fist, and landed a punch on my cheek.  
I didn't care. This was Oblivion. He was supposed to be afraid, not me.  
Zambini let a few more punches and kicks at me. I didn't feel a thing – only the heat of Oblivion made me flinch (But due to familiarity, it didn't bother much). "You like that, Mudblood?!" said Zambini, grinning nastily at me. "'Cause that's what you get for embarrassing me at breakfast this morning!" Zambini raised his fist again, but just a second before it made contact with my guts –  
"Stop it, Zambini!"  
Zambini froze at the sound of Malfoy's voice. He lowered his fist and stared at Malfoy. "What are you doing here?" he said, bewildered.  
"I'm stopping you from hurting her anymore, that's what," spoke Malfoy in reply for Zambini's question. "Now quit it."  
Malfoy stretched an arm out in front of me. "Come on, Granger," he said. "Fight's over. You're losing anyways."  
I rolled my eyes and took Malfoy's hand, timidly getting up. "First rule in the book, Malfoy," I said, rather lazily. "Let the enemy get a say in first. He can't get one if he is dead, you know."  
Zambini snorted. "What's up with you, Malfoy?" said Malfoy. I shut up, knowing he was directing his attention to Malfoy now. "You used to be a real Slytherin! Now you're... going soft"  
"I'm not turning soft," said Malfoy inaudibly. But I heard him. He sounded somewhat dejected. Did Malfoy turn soft? Why? "You just... it's not right to hurt a girl, you know." – for me?  
Zambini laughed loudly. "Not right?!" coughed Zambini, still shaking in laughter. "How would YOU know what's not right, Malfoy? You're the one who kicks first and second years, dates every girl in Hogwarts, HITS GIRLS when you're pissed! Why the f--- can't I hit this, Mudblood?!"  
I cringed slightly. He made me sound like a filthy dog. I felt like strangling him, but knowing that this was Malfoy's business; I shut up.  
"You know what?" said Malfoy, buttoning the collar of my cloak. "I was just trying to help you. But... since you insist... Granger," Malfoy called, turning to me. He spoke my name so calmly, that I felt a blast of fire burn through my finger tips and toes. "Go ahead. Get him."  
I gave Malfoy a grateful smirk (One which Malfoy returned with he's own smirk) and threw my wand out behind me. "I wouldn't need this," I muttered to Malfoy. Malfoy gave me a quizzical look, but seemed to know I was doing the right thing anyways.  
"Okay, Zambini," I said spitefully. A dark shadow loomed across me and I felt suddenly protected. "Show me what you can do."  
Zambini – who was so mean and smug just minutes ago – cowered and stared at me with fearful blue-green eyes. He raised his wand, but before he could think of a powerful spell to attack me with, I pounced at him.  
"You deserve this, Shit!" I hissed, throwing a side kick in his gut.  
Zambini fell to the ground, yelling in pain. Blood flew out of his front like bird flying free of capture. "You... b----!" he groaned, clutching his abdomen in anguish. "Go to hell!"  
"I am in hell...," I mumbled, drawing my hands out and tracing out a crude pattern with my index finger. The pattern was on instinct, as if I've been taught to do this ages ago – but I hadn't. I didn't even know about this. My hands did it automatically.  
The pattern was that of a strange full moon painted in half midnight blue and the other half blood red. A large phoenix spread it's wings in front of the moon – as though protecting it against harm.  
It was strange. One half of the moon (The left side) was just like my birthmark – a midnight blue half moon with half a phoenix's wing spread magnificently in front of it.  
The pattern floated around above ground in front of me. I snapped my index finger together with my thumb and suddenly, the dull, lifeless pattern burned powerfully.  
"AAAARGH!!!" screamed Zambini. He was in suffering by the looks of it. The pattern grew larger, and larger, blowing the life out of Zambini like a child would blow out the candles off his birthday cake – and Zambini was down to his last candle.  
No! This was not supposed to happen. I was supposed to show Zambini no mercy, but I wasn't supposed to kill him. That was just cruel. I shared a frantic look with Malfoy and out of panic, I jumped through the pattern I made.  
A groan of agony escaped my lips. Everything suddenly felt too loud, too fast, too disturbing. An ear-splitting scream released itself out of my mouth (Which was suffering to open). My body felt queasy, numb, aching and burning. I fell to the ground, almost lifeless.  
  
DRACO'S POV :  
  
My body suffered a painful blow at the very same moment Granger passed through the full moon pattern. I felt burnt, frozen, aching, numb and just plain hurt. Tears of anguish burned down my cheeks. My ears were frozen, almost unreal. My man ran from "Aaargh!!" to "SHIT!!", everything seemed wrong, cruel, mean, painful...  
Then, Granger let out an ear-piercing scream – one which startled me from my little "Moment".  
I ran towards Granger, hoping badly she would be alright. "HERMIONE!" I shouted, gripping her shoulders and shaking it roughly. I didn't mean to hurt her anymore, but I was frantic here! "Please g-get up!"  
Hermione... er... Granger's eyes fluttered. "You... said my name...," she muttered before passing out.  
I stared at her pale, lifeless form. Knowing nothing about healing, I picked her up and let her rest in my arms. Although this was a very critical moment and wasn't at all the time for my hormones to kick in, it did. She looked so peaceful and angelic in my arms. It was like, the big empty space in my life was suddenly filled. Her small body melted perfectly with mine.  
I gulped and wondered what I should do with Zambini. But this was more important than any stupid Slytherin like Zambini – this was for Hermione Granger. And it was up to me to help her.  
I closed my eyes and concentrated hard on getting Granger to safety. Then, with a woosh of breeze around me, Oblivion disappeared from my sight, only to be replaced with Life.  
  
I returned to life, suddenly out of breath and sweaty. Although I was weak and burdened, I refused to release Herm... uh... Granger from my arms. I suddenly forgot about my pains and hugged Granger closer to my body, running swiftly out of the Astronomy tower.  
"Meow!" something soft and furry meowed around my feet.  
Oh no... not you, not NOW!  
"What is it, my Precious?" croaked Filch's voice, walking up to the Astronomy tower. "Ooh... a student passed curfew, is it, Precious? YES! Now to hand you in to Dumbledore, yes, Preciousss?? Yess... yess...!!"  
I groaned, wondering why on earth these kind of things had to happen at the worst of times. Muttering accursed words, I followed Filch grudgingly towards Dumbledore's office.  
  
Dumbledore's circular office came into view. I usually came here to report some difficult student to him, but this time, I was the difficult student.  
"Hold on!" said Filch, shoving me down on a chair. "Who's that, eh, Precious? One of your little snogs, eh? Well, I must say, although it is not of any business of mine, you two make an unexpected couple. Wouldn't have imagined.'  
I clenched my teeth furiously. SNOG? I had done nothing of the sort! I was merely taking Granger to the Hospital Wing! How could he have thought of that?! I hugged Granger closer to me, almost choking her for being too close. Thankfully she had passed out.  
Suddenly, not to my surprise, Dumbledore appeared it the room. "Thank you, Filch," he said to Filch. "I shall take it from here."  
Filch nodded and walked out of the room, not before grinning wickedly at me of course. Stupid obsessed freak.  
"Now, Filch tells me you've been, er, making personal contact with Miss Granger in the Astronomy tower at night," said Dumbledore, eyes twinkling. "Might I ask for your say in of the story?"  
I opened my mouth to tell him about Zambini, but then I remembered, that would get Granger in trouble.  
"I... uh... pulled Granger into the Astronomy tower for a battle," I lied, trying to look disgusted in having Granger in my arms. "She refused to follow me, so I cast a spell on her."  
"Very well, Mr. Malfoy," said Dumbledore. "Drop Miss Granger off at the Hospital Wing and be prepared for 3 weeks of detention with Professor Snape."  
I restrained myself from groaning, nodded, and walked slowly out of Dumbledore's office.  
"Oh, and Mr. Malfoy...,"  
I stopped in my tracks and turned around to face Dumbledore.  
"Come to me anytime you decide to speak out the truth," he said, eyes twinkling.  
  
_HEY! This is like one of the LONGEST chapters in the whole story! Yay for me!! Now, I've done my job – you do yours! All you've got to do is click that "Review" button down there and REVIEW! Remember 5 or more (Depends on my mood) reviews and I promise to post the next chapter, got it? Now, you can get me in a REALLY GOOD mood if you all review!! If you don't review, or flame, or whatever, I won't continue. I am a very persuasive person, so don't piss me out.  
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	7. Not A Friend

I'm SOOO sorry I didn't update this sooner! The bloody Internet went whack and I couldn't submit this bloody chapter! I had done this chapter much earlier and I really wanted to submit it. Sorry again! Ok, so anyways... this chapter is kind of slow moving and boring, so don't get mad. I've already finished Chapter 8, but due to my annoying behavior and selfish attitude, I won't give it to you until you review. Chapter 8 has revelations about Oblivion! I think I'm really getting somewhere here, people!

By the way, you guys ROCK! Please accept a token of my appreciation – have a cookie! :) Don't forget to REVIEW because I won't continue unless I get 5 or more reviews. It really depends on my mood. More reviews = faster outcome, got it? REVIEW!!

DRACO'S POV :

I walked briskly down the hallway, carrying Granger's unconscious body in my arms. The hallway felt a lot warmer than before and I was sure this was Dumbledore's doing.

Once I arrived at the Hospital Wing, I looked around for a vacant bed to place her on. Many of the beds were empty, but I was a very picky person. The bed by the windowsill looked nice, but she might heat up by the sunlight, the bed in the corner was probably too dark for her, the bed by the medicine cabinet might be a bit distracting (by all the smells I mean), and the bed I was standing over looked uncomfortable.

One of the beds however, looked perfect – all nice, soft and comfortable looking. Granger needed a bed like that with the form she's in. Sadly however, that bed was occupied.

I snorted, the person asleep on that bed didn't even look badly injured – only a black eye, bloody nose and a few broken ribs. I decided – no matter how brutal – to place Granger on that bed anyways.

I gently put her down on the broken bed for a while, walked over to the boy sleeping on the comfortable bed, pushed him off and replaced Granger on it.

Yes, that's more like it. I grinned; feeling satisfied with myself. Now Granger can rest easy.

I stared down at Granger for a bit, feeling considerably weird and empty without her in my arms. Sighing, I bent down to inspect her.

Bruises covered her skin, some old and some new, a few scars were burnt threw her flesh like a hot iron... cuts looked like an everyday thing for her and she had a huge swollen bump at the left corner of her forehead.

I frowned, still staring at all the scars, cuts and bruises drawn (Not really drawn) roughly on Granger's small body. They had never been here before... so why were they here now? Then, it hit me. Those bruises had always been there, lying painfully around her body – the only reason I didn't notice it was because Granger had hidden it so well. Still, the only question that still toyed my mind was, who, or what for that matter, did this to her?

All of a sudden, I heard footsteps drawing closer to where I stood. I murmured swears, draped a cloak (The one Granger lent me) over Granger's body, and walked swiftly out of the Hospital Wing.

Boy, today has been a long shot. Hopefully I'd rest better tomorrow.

"Ugh..." I groaned, pulling the covers over my head. "What time is it...?" I rolled over under my blanket and tried hard to fall asleep, but to no luck, I was wide-awake and aching all over.

Sunlight streamed down my bed, highlighting parts of my body with a rich golden colour. The intensity made me grimace and even the slightest movements made me sting. Memories of last night's events replayed in my mind over and over again.

I tumbled out of bed, cursing everything around me in the process. "Damn heat... damn floor... damn walls... damn blanket... damn nose... damn headache..." and so on.

I crawled over to the bathroom, got a quick bath, and slipped into my school uniform. The only words that seemed to form out of my mouth, were either cruel or should-be censored. I was in a bad mood all right.

Grabbing my bag and slinging it over my shoulder, I grudgingly walked out of the Head Dorm to curse the rest of the world.

The Not-So-Great Hall was so jammed full with students this morning that it irritated me to hell. Everyone was so noisy, gossipy, and happy... I felt like strangling each of them and throwing them into a wardrobe together with a Boggart.

Of course, the day didn't get any better after. I had to put up with glares from the Gryffindore table, drools from the troll-faced girls in my fan club, a disturbing Pansy and a bunch of other crap.

By the time it was Transfiguration class, I was out of my mind with shit. I could think of nothing but how stupid this place was and how much I wanted to run away from it!

"Mr. Malfoy, have you anything to say?"

Eh? I stopped swearing under my breath to put on an innocent look at McGonagall. "Oh, of course not professor," I said, enlarging my eyes for effect. "I was only... uh... concentrating hard on your lesson. You see, that's the kind of thing you do in class." I shot Longbottom a withering look to make it look like I had done nothing wrong. Longbottom cowered under my stare.

"Oh?" spoke McGonagall, clearly unimpressed by my innocent act. "Well if so, would you repeat what I just said about transfiguring a teapot into a replica of your head?"

I bit my bottom lip. She got me there.

"No? Well then, as for lying and not paying attention in my class, you may serve detention with Weasley tonight at eight."

I narrowed my eyes in deep anger and disgust. That was injustice! I felt so sick and tired of this day that I just NEEDED to escape. Unconsciously, I closed my eyes, anger still boiling deep down inside my chest, and pictured an escape. I pictured a place all to myself, a place of comfort – somewhere nobody could find me. I pictured Oblivion...

The place was burning hot, dizzy and dried. I couldn't even feel myself under all this heat. I felt exhausted, barely awake and extremely washed out. Fire flickered and shot bellow my feet, startling me at how different everything seemed.

I looked around, trying to take in to the surroundings. My vision was slightly blurred and everything looked like a mirage. This was Oblivion – that I knew of – but why was it so... different?

The grounds bellow me sparked like a roaring fire would every Christmas night, the sky was red – blood red with streams of hot orange. It surprised me that Oblivion wasn't as cold and blue as it was with Granger.

I tried searching for a clue, any reason to why I was here. My fingers subconsciously drew a delicate pattern in front of me. The pattern was that of a blurred golden triangle.

Without realizing why, I muttered something under my breath, something that sounded a lot like, 'Show me the Truth", and suddenly, the floating golden triangle burst into a flash of white light and reformed itself into a projecting hologram-like thing.

Images of the moon at all its different stages sprang to life through the Truth-Triangle.

I stared in awe as the moon turned from crescent, to half. It looked miraculous and simply breath taking. But as the moon reached its full form, the original moon colour changed to half midnight blue and half blood red.

I frowned, puzzled at this new change. Half the side of the moon (The right side) looked strangely like my birthmark. How odd was that?

Suddenly a flying shadow flew up high in front of the moon, spreading its wings wide.

I squinted my eyes, trying to figure out what the heck this all meant. The flying-shadow-thing looked a lot like a phoenix... hmm... perhaps it was a phoenix... but what is a phoenix doing trying to protect a moon? Did this mean the moon is going to explode? Naah... I shook that thought out of my head, chuckling a bit at my silliness.

Sick of staring at something I couldn't solve, I waved an arm out in front of the Truth-Triangle, thus making it disappear in a bright white light.

Well, this was boring. I couldn't understand why Granger loved Oblivion so much; all it does is produce pain. Oh, but I guess the fact that nobody is around to irritate you is cool...

Sighing, I closed my eyes – concentrating hard on Life. I've had my little 'To-Myself Time', now it's about time I went back to where the rest of the living lay.

HERMIONE'S POV :

PLOP! The sound of Madame Pomphrey mixing potions made me shudder. PLOP! I winced, biting my lips tightly in disgust. PLOP! I shut my eyes and tried to fake being asleep. PLOP! I sighed. I give up...

"Now, dear, here you go!" said Madame Pomphrey, shoving a jug of Anti-Bruises under my nose. "Drink it all up, dearie! Don't want those nasty bruises now, do we?"

I opened my mouth to tell her that I didn't mind the bruises (It was the medicine that I wanted to avoid), but before I could, Madame Pomphrey forced my mouth open and dumped the nasty liquid in.

"Ugh!" I said, spitting the flavour from my tongue. That was nasty – worse than Malfoy even. Then, a thought struck me. Where was Malfoy? And who brought me here?

"Madame Pomphrey," I said, catching the Medi-Witch's attention. "Er... do you know how I got here? Who brought me, that is?"

Madame Pomphrey shrugged. "I simply don't know, dear," she said, bustling around the Hospital-Wing like she was in a rush. "I just found you here last night – covered in bruises and scars. What happened to you anyways?"

"Er... fell down a ladder while trying to reach for a book," I mumbled. It seemed like a good enough excuse... sort of. "May I please leave now, ma'am? I'd like to thank my, uh... 'Savior' for last night..."

"Ooh... Do have any clue of who it is than?" asked Madame Pomphrey. Sigh... women can be such busybodies.

"Kind of," I said, pulling myself off the beds and ruffling the sheets. "May I go now please?"

"Oh, all right," huffed Madame Pomphrey. "Your savior must be one heck of a man, to carry you all the way here."

I raised an eyebrow, questioningly. "He... carried me all the way?" I inquired. I had a hunch it was Malfoy, but now I wasn't so sure. Why would Malfoy carry me all the way to the Hospital Wing when he could've easily levitated me? Then again, Malfoy is the only one who knows about Oblivion and me. "Are you sure he didn't just levitate me or something?"

"Very sure," said Madame Pomphrey. A dreamy, far-away look suddenly spread across her face. "Seems romantic, doesn't it? I wish I could have a man carry me all the way to safety! Just like a prince! You know, I always wanted to be a princess when I was younger... live in a castle... getting saved by a prince... I dreamed about it every night. But I never got my wish. You are a very lucky one, you are... to have a man hold you in his arms... hugging you closely to his chest... some people get all the luck!"

I rolled my eyes, obviously disgusted. If she thinks I'm a lucky person, she's damn crazy! "Okay, I'll just be going... now," I muttered, before taking off.

Up the steps I went, wearing nothing but the nightgown and cloak from yesterday night's adventure. Just as my foot was about to touch the next step...

BAM!!

I fell on the ground, wincing at the painful contact it made with my sides. "What the hell...?" I started. Looking up, I saw Pansy Parkinson's ugly, pug-like face, grinning wickedly at me. "What d'you want, Pug-Face!" I growled.

Parkinson glared at me, eyes filled with disgust and nose scrunched horribly. I almost barfed. "Listen Mudblood – you ungrateful piece of leftover shit!" she snarled at me. I winced – that was worse than Pug-Face. I should've thought of that. "Rumors are; you're getting a little snuggly with MY Drakie!"

"Snuggly?" I repeated, a smile tugging at the corner of my lips. "You're kidding, right? I would NEVER even TOUCH that crappy pig-headed oaf – much less get SNUGGLY with him!"

Parkinson's eyes widened. She grinded her teeth together, picked me up by the collar of my nightgown (This really surprised me, I never knew a skinny little crap-head like Parkinson had the strength to pick me up by the collar), and slammed me against the wall. "How DARE you call Drakie that!" she shouted. She raised a bony arm, and slapped me across the face.

I laughed. "That's all you got, Miss Ugly 2004?" I said, putting on my annoying smirk that never failed to annoy. "A SLAP? You make me laugh! I was expecting something physical, for God's sake! Come on, Pug-Face! Throw me some shit already!"

Parkinson almost cried in fury. I suppose words couldn't explain how she hated me... actually it could – disgust, anger, hatred, vehemence, fury... etc. "Y-you B!!!" she screamed, raising a shaking fist.

I closed my eyes, waiting for the same pain I often felt. But... none came. I opened my eyes, wondering what the hold up was. Instead of Parkinson's glaring eyes and flaring nostrils, I saw Malfoy – staring at me with caring steel grey eyes.

"Are you alright?" he asked, hoisting me up to a better position. "How are your bruises?"

"Fine," I muttered, trying to look at anything but Malfoy's eyes because for some reason, it seemed to attract me. "Er... thanks."

"No problem," said Malfoy, shrugging like it was no big deal. "Pansy's an annoying slut anyways. I deal with her everyday..."

"Not for that..." I said, my eyes still avoiding his. "F-for... you know... last night..."

"O-oh..." Malfoy stuttered. He looked kind of sheepish. "Yeah... that was nothing either. I er... you know, just did the right thing."

I snorted. "Right thing? Since when do Malfoys do the 'Right Thing'?" I chuckled, almost smiling.

Malfoy grinned. "Hey, we have our bad days too, you know!" he said playfully.

I couldn't help it. My eyes immediately turned to his. We locked eyes for a while – my chocolate brown mixing with he's steel gray... It seemed like forever that we stood there, just staring into each other's eyes.

"Er... right then," I mumbled, breaking the contact. My cheeks turned a little pink, though I didn't know why. I coughed a bit and scratched my red nose, feeling a little chilly. I should really sleep with a sweater on – after all, nightgowns suck – especially the light, almost see-through types.

"Are you okay?" Malfoy asked, looking at me.

"Yeah..." I lied. "Just dandy."

The frown on Malfoy's face told me he didn't believe me. "Here," said Malfoy, taking his robes off and placing it over me. "Let's go back to the Head Dorm. I expect you wouldn't want to go back in the Hospital-Wing, right?"

I smirked. "You're not the only stubborn person around here, you know."

Malfoy said the password to the Head Dorm and gently shoved me inside. I mumbled thanks and took his robes off to return it to him.

Malfoy shook his head no, and pushed the robes back in my hands. "You take it," he said. "Your normal school robes look a little short anyways."

I mumbled thanks, hating the fact that he was being so nice to me. It wasn't easy to be cruel and cold to someone if they were being so caring and thoughtful. "I'm going to get some rest," I said, tying Dra... I mean MALFOY'S robes on. "Thanks for everything, Malfoy..."

"Draco," said Malfoy, correcting me.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "What?" I asked, confused.

Malfoy looked at me. "My names Draco, Hermione," he said.

I shook my head no. "No," I mumbled, loud enough for him to hear over the cackling fire. "Don't call me that. You're not..." I bit my bottom lip, almost regretting the next thing I was about to say. "... You're not a friend, Malfoy."

There. I said it. No matter how dirty and selfish I felt at the moment, it's been done. Malfoy has to understand. Warming up to somebody, even as a friend, pained me... maybe even more than the heartrending look on Malfoy's face...

DRACO'S POV :

I stared after Hermione's retreating form, wondering what on earth I did wrong. I thought she was warming up to me... everything seemed fine just a minute ago.

I groaned. Gee, Draco, you sure did it again... 'My names Draco, Hermione...' How incredibly smooth... not!

Maybe I should just... just give up... After all, it's none of my business that Granger's covered in bruises and obviously in pain... right?

Pushing myself off the couch, I walked over to Granger's bedroom door and knocked on it gently.

"Come on, Granger," I said, returning to my usual self. I decided that if Granger doesn't want somebody to worry about her, than that'll be just fine by me. Who cares about a filthy little Mudblood like her after all? Snort. I don't, that's for sure! "We've got some research to do. It's about Oblivion."

Granger peeked out from her room, chocolate brown eyes fixed on my impatient glare. "So it's back to last name basis, is it?" she said. I nodded, causing Granger to sigh. "Fine then. Give me some time to change and I'll be down in a few..."

"Yeah, yeah..." I muttered trying to act disinterested although when Granger said she was going to change, I kind of got a mental picture. "Just change into something decent, will you? I don't want to be seen with a Mudblood – even if it is in the deserted corner of the library," I said, trying to hide the blush that was creeping up my neck.

"Nice to have you back, Malfoy," mumbled Granger, giving me a sharp glare before slamming the door in my face.

A few minutes later of impatient waiting (and a mouth full of swears some never knew existed), Granger's door creaked open and heels were heard clanking against the cold, marble floor. As Granger's footsteps drew nearer, I slung a bag over my shoulder and stuffed some sheets of parchment into it. "Finally," I said, without bothering to face her. "Shall we go now?"

"Alright..." said Granger's jaded voice, all tired and worn out. "Come on... I don't have forever."

I sneered at her. "Yeah, and like I do..." I said.

The library looked – as usual – empty and arduous. Not many students chose it as the new 'Cool Spot'. Four students sat around a large, oval table, minding their own business silently.

That's a good sign, I mused, beckoning Granger to follow me to an empty table that was slightly hidden behind two bookshelves.

"So... how to begin this?" asked Granger, eyes tracing for any sign of eave droppers.

"Geez, Granger..." I sighed, rolling my eyes at her over-defensive attitude. "Nobody's around and we haven't even started on anything... don't draw attention! Act natural. People might get suspicious."

Granger narrowed her eyes at me in deep loathing. I had obviously started on the wrong foot. "So where do we start then, Mister I-know-everything-that-people-can't-tell-me-what-to-do-especially-not-a-Mudblood-who-has-enough-power-to-turn-me-into-ashes-and-dig-up-my-grave-in-Oblivion?" she goaded.

Wow. I never knew anyone could say that in one breath – I'm impressed.

"Let's try searching for rare powers or something... perhaps anything about Oblivion or the Full Moon Symbol," I suggested. "Come on. The faster we get to work, the faster we figure out the mystery to this supernatural ability we've got."

"Shh!" said Granger, slapping her hand over my pale lips. "People can hear you, damn it!"

I rolled my eyes and pushed her hand away from my mouth. "Honestly, Granger!" I said. "Can you stop being so naïve? Nobody's listening!"

But little did I know... for behind one of the bookshelves, somebody sat, digesting every single word we spoke...

See! I told you it was stupid and extremely not to the point! Please give me your comments and reviews. You guys ROCK and don't forget it! Hey, just for the fun of it, can you guys guess who the eavesdropper is? Tell me through your reviews, okay? 5 or more, that's the deal! Wait... just to be greedy and show my natural colour, I want 7 OR MORE REVIEWS! You give me the reviews – I give you the story! That's the way it works, man!

See that little button at the left hand corner of the page? Yeah? Well, move your mouse towards it and click on...

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	8. Weasels Gone Bad

**_IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE! PLEASE READ IT (The authors note) AND CONTINUE ON!!!_**

_Okay. I know it has been sometime since I updated this fic- but that doesn't mean it's over! I love this story, plot, and especially the reviews so I'm definitely not giving up 'til it's completely done. It MAY take sometime though. I'm not the most perfect (Nor am I anything close to perfect!) person in the world. But if I say I'll get it done – I'll get it done. My Internet was jammed and could not work before, so I couldn't continue updating (To update chapter 7 I had to use wireless at a hotel! It was SO painful! The connection was sooo slow!) I HAVE however, done chapters 8-12 (See? I'm not so lazy!)._

_So to all you reviewers, don't disappoint me after this very serious authors note. The only thing that MAY stop me from writing, is not getting any reviews. That said, please..._

_**REVIEW!**_

HERMIONE'S POV :

"Nil," I said, pushing a book called 'Special Magical Abilities' away from under my nose. We (Malfoy and I) have been researching the Full Moon Symbol and Oblivion for hours, and for once in my entire life I felt sick of staring at books all day. "Can we give it a break, Malfoy? We've been searching for hours."

"No!" said Malfoy. He grabbed the 'Special Magical Abilities' book I've been reading and studied the pages carefully. "We're not looking hard enough. It's got to be here!"

And people thought I was the bossy one! "Malfoy... we've practically gone through every book there is. There's nothing here!" I said, annoyance clearly showing. "I've been patient with you, Malfoy... don't lose that privilege."

For the first time in six hours, Malfoy stopped concentrating on the book to face me. "Granger," he said, tone of voice obviously slipping. "This is serious. The Full Moon you made in Oblivion was incredibly dangerous; a life could have passed! Something this huge is no Potter Incident! We're dealing with something even Voldemort doesn't have. And you and I both know Voldemort... what he doesn't have – he gets."

A roll of cold sweat slipped down the back of my neck. "Alright," I muttered. "I'll go get another book. If nothing comes up, we'll continue tomorrow."

Malfoy gave me a brisk nod, and returned back to the pile of research scattered around the table.

I sighed, pushed myself off the chair and walked over to a bookshelf.

"Stupid, Malfoy," I muttered once standing close to a stack of books. "'What Voldie doesn't have, he gets...' ugh... If people want to know the real definition of the word 'Son of a b' they should look up – Harry!"

Behind a stack of books, a pair of emerald green eyes stood staring at me. Broken spectacles covered the emerald greens and messy jet-black hair flew everywhere. "So I'm the definition of 'Son of a b', is it?" asked the one that carried the mesmerising green eyes.

I could've choked on oxygen just then, but I forced myself to control it. "Yes, POTTER. You are," I said coolly, brushing the strands of hair that fell into my eyes.

Harry's eyes softened. "Hermione..." he murmured, sticking his hand through the rows of books. His hand gently caressed my cheek. "What happened...?"

My eyes closed itself to Harry's touch. It was so very cold against my skin – not at all like I dreamed it to be. "Harry," I said, my voice drifted out of my lips uncontrollably. "... I d-don't know... it just... happened..."

My eyes snapped open, gazing into Harry's heart melting emerald green. "I got to go..." I whispered. My hands reached for a book (No book in particular), and I walked away, taking long strides at a time. "Bye, Harry..."

"Have you got the books, Granger?" asked Malfoy, the second I arrived back at our table.

I rolled my eyes. Isn't it nice? Somebody actually cares about me... cough! "Er... yeah... right here," I said, fumbling with the book in my hands.

Malfoy grabbed the book from me (How sweet...) and stared at it. "Granger," he said, raising the book so I could see. "How's THIS book going to help us solve our little mystery?"

I blushed. The book he held was called, 'A Lover's Tale Between Two Oblivions'. It looked like a very old novel, with crisp brown pages and the faint smell of a worn out- partly torn book. "It did say Oblivion, did it not?" I said, trying to hide my crimson coloured cheeks.

Malfoy rolled his eyes, and passed the old novel back to me. "You know what, Granger?" he said, his steel grey eyes fixed in a weary expression. Looking closely, I could see that he too had thick black bags under his eyes. "You do need a break. We'll continue this tomorrow..."

_Her sky blue eyes filled with tears. Gregory's silhouette stood in the corner, trying to block Aliana's crying face from his mind. "Aliana," he murmured, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear. "You know it won't work... things are complicated."_

_Aliana rubbed her eyes. "No it's not," she whispered. "I love you, and you love me. That's it, Greg."_

_Greg heaved a sigh. "No, you know that's all a lie... a wish that'll never /happen," he spoke. "Things happen – things always happen. And it always will."_

_Greg caressed Aliana's pale cheek gently. "Oblivion will always be in the way. Always. Evil's always after us... we can't run anymore."_

"_But when we're together we're strong, Greg!" said Aliana, cheeks wet with tears. _

"_Yeah, sure we're strong, but we're also gullible. Aliana we can end this. We can live if you'll just understand; we CAN'T be together! This curse keeps us apart..."_

_Aliana felt her heart shatter. "But this curse also keeps us together. We're soul mates! Destined to be together, to do what's right!"_

Gregory sighed and smashed his fist against the brick wall. "Damn this stupid curse!!" he cried. "Happening every 300 years! Why is it always..."

But before Greg could continue his sentence, a faint knocking on the door was heard. I marked my page (Page 380), picked myself up from the bed and unlocked the door. "What do you want, Malfoy?" I said, clearly obvious to the spaghetti-strap midnight blue top and short shorts I was wearing at the moment. I hated short, skimpy outfits, but these are my pyjamas. Nobody is supposed to see me in my pyjamas! I'm not trying to act all slutty really.

Malfoy's face turned bright pink; he stared down at his hands (Which dangled down his sides). "Uh... I was wondering... uh... Are... you... busy...?" he mumbled, his blush expanding.

I smirked, very much amused. "Not really. Just some light reading," I said, pointing at the thick novel lying on my bed.

Malfoy raised an eyebrow in question. "Light reading?" he repeated. "Right... so, er, I was... well, I've got nothing to do and I can't get any sleep, so... would you, er, mind if I...?"

I nodded, understanding him clearly. I was in the same predicament he's in, so I understand if he can't stop thinking about Oblivion and Blaise Zabini's near death experience. "Come on in, Malfoy," I said, stepping aside so he could enter.

Malfoy went over to my bed and sat on the far edge of it. "You're reading that romance story you gave me at the library?" he said, studying the book. "I never knew you were into this girly crap, Granger,"

I plopped down on the bed and leaned against the wall. "Yeah," I said, concentrating on my black polished nails. "And I think I've got something about Oblivion."

With that sentence, Malfoy stopped looking around the room to turn his full attention to me. "I'm all ears, Granger," he said, staring at me.

I crawled over to the edge of the bed until I was sitting side by side with Malfoy. "Oblivion... according to the book, mean two people – a man and a woman – are chosen for this incredible responsibility every three hundred years. They usually start off as enemies... but end up, um..." I trailed off at that point, my mouth felt dry and sticky.

"Yes?" asked Malfoy eagerly, turning suddenly so that his nose almost touched my left cheek.

"... Lovers..." I whispered.

DRACO'S POV :

My throat felt dry and my lungs shrivel. The last word that escaped Granger's lips sent me into a petrified state. "... L-lovers...?" I squeaked.

Granger nodded; her expression blank as though unaffected by this sudden realization. "Anyways," she continued, waving a hand in front of my face dismissively, "According to the book, each two chosen people will have to face an impossible task – they have to save the world..."

I raised an eyebrow at the last statement. "Save the world?" I repeated, clearly not believing what she just said. "Isn't that a Potter-Thing?"

"Don't talk about Harry like that!" snapped Granger, her chocolate brown eyes narrowed in rage.

I coughed. "Excuse me?" I asked. I thought she hated Potter – why is she getting all over-protective all of a sudden? "Did I just hit a soft spot?"

Granger's eyes softened as she pretended to act unaffected. "No," she said, a little too quickly. "... Er, so anyways... we have this power to destroy some great evil or whatever. Some kind of prophecy will point out our purpose."

"Prophecy? Where do we find a bloody prophecy?" I asked, scratching the back of my neck in thought.

Granger shrugged. "I don't know... maybe this isn't even true," she said, lying face-upwards on her bed. "Besides, it was just a dumb romance novel. It could've just been a made up story."

"Or not," I stated. "No story can be so... connected to our predicament. It's got to be the truth."

"Maybe," muttered Granger, eyes closed – focusing on some dream or thought. Granger opened her mouth to release a sleepy yawn.

I nodded, deep in thought. "After all, who'd know about something like this? And why on earth would it be written in a romance novel instead of some research books?" I questioned, waiting for a reply from Granger. But no reply came. I turned to my left, only to see a sleeping Granger – her small form curled up in a tight ball.

A smile tugged on the corner of my lips. She looked so peaceful and angelic... her bottom lip stuck out to form a slight pout and her dark brown hair fell delicately – framing her pretty face beautifully and cascading down her back like waves from a waterfall. My heart practically skipped a beat as I suddenly felt overwhelmed with emotions I just couldn't place my finger on.

I slipped a blanket over her body and watched her shiver slightly before falling back into gentle rest. "Harry..." she murmured, her dreams taking her places I wouldn't understand.

My smile wavered a bit before falling into a grim frown. I decided to leave her there for the night, so I snuck the romance novel inside my pocket and left for my room.

Once I arrived in my room, I plopped down on the bed and started flipping through the pages of 'A Lover's Tale Between Two Oblivions' and sneered in disgust. I have no idea how anyone could read this crap!

Just as I was about to change to page 590, an aged peace of parchment slipped out of the middle and settled itself on my bed. I eyed the parchment wearily, wondering whether or not I should go through Granger's personal belongings. Then again, I've already intruded into most of her life. What harm could it do by reading an old peace of paper?

I opened the parchment, ready to read a piece of Granger's diary or something. But the parchment was not at all what I expected it to be. In the middle of the parchment – written in old ink and fancy handwriting – was a date stated Year 1704.

I stared at the date with wide eyes. Year 1704? That was like, three hundred years ago, wasn't it? Shaking the impossible thought out of my head, I raised the parchment closer to the light of a candle and studied it closely. It wrote,

_Year 1704,_

_If someone is reading this, then I am sure that he – or she – has figured out the power that they posses._

_The power of Oblivion and the Full Moon Symbol._

_Every thousand years, two people – a man and a woman – will be chosen to represent the meaning of good._

_As different as they might seem to each other, they can only rely on their love between each other to defeat the evil that is too soon coming. _

_Each couple will be forced to uncover a prophecy (Which is well hidden in the depths of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry) and restore the maximum power they posses. All of this must be figured out together._

_I have written this book to help the next Chosen Two against the great evil they will soon come across. Both Gregory and I (The present – or in your case past – two chosen people) were forced to uncover this secret without any help at all. Unfortunately, we uncovered it only a second before crisis so we were almost doomed to a dreadful ending._

_You two (whoever you are) will hopefully be of more luck. I apologise dreadfully that I can't be of more help to you both. You see, the Chosen Two must uncover their mystery together and unlock their most powerful weapon together as well. However – although forbidden – I shall give you some advice. You two must train very hard in Oblivion! Do not use Oblivion for your own personal wishes. It is not always a place of safety and reassurance, so you must go together. Socialize with one another and free your mystical abilities. Do be careful however, your spells are not always useful and may backfire without assistance. Stubborn as your (Whichever) partner might seem, you must help him/her. I love Gregory, and though he doesn't wish to admit it much, he loves me too. _

_I wish you the best. _

_Sincerely, _

_Aliana Ross_

My eyes widened even more as I stared at the written clearly on the bottom left corner of the aged parchment. I couldn't believe what I had just read. So the prophecy IS true... Granger and I are soul mates – destined to save the world together.

I rubbed my forehead in frustration. There has got to be a logical explanation for all this. Granger and I can't possibly fall in love with each other. Sure she is extremely beautiful... and she has the most gorgeous eyes I had ever seen... and I couldn't help but stare at her every time she passes by... But the whole possibility of us being soul mates sickens me! I would never fall in love with her – and she me.

I smashed my fist against the wall in fury. Where is this stupid prophecy? And why must I only know about it now?! I rubbed my aching fist, swearing at the whole bloody predicament I got messed up in.

I awoke the next morning with sunlight streaming down my face. All my pains and miseries had subsided into happiness and pure bliss.

_A white light sprung from my fingers as I gently traced a scratchy outline of some sort of symbol. It was the symbol of a heart – glowing brightly with passion and peacefulness. _

_"I got something for you, Love," I murmured, a smile playing on my lips as I pictured the look on my lover's face once she saw what I made for her._

_"What is it?" said a voice so angelic and mesmerising that I couldn't help but bless my luck for being with her. _

_"Here," I said. "Come see it..."_

_A pair of chocolate brown eyes appeared from beside the window – the streams of sunlight glowed all around her radiant form that I could not see her face._

_I blew the heart symbol from my fingers and allowed it to float around the room._

_"It's beautiful!" said the voice before. I could feel her happiness swell up inside me. I felt loved and connected._

_"Yes," I said, my lips forming a smile. "I love you, Hermione..."_

_Hermione's eyes sparkled with joy. Her face emitted happiness beyond all happiness. "I love you too, Draco!" she said, her arms folding around my neck. Her skin felt warm against mine and I pulled her into a passionate embrace. For once, my life was complete... Hermione and I were one... together forever – I could've done anything for her. Our love spread across all fear, just as hope had in the end..._

_"Draco..." murmured Hermione. She looked into my eyes and our lips almost met. We were only inches apart, and our breath hit each of our faces. "Draco..."_

"WAKE UP YOU BLOODY FERRET!!!"

My eyes snapped open the instant ice water hit me. "What the hell!" I shouted, realizing that I was drenching wet. "The f with you!!" I snapped my eyes upwards, letting a growl form itself from my shivering lips. "Granger..."

Granger's lips twisted into a smirk and her eyes glinted mischievously. The empty bucket she used to pour ice water over my head was tucked under her arm. "Come on, ferret from hell," she said. "It's 10.47 AM already."

"10.47?!" I repeated, starting to freak out immensely. "You mean, I MISSED CLASSES?!"

Granger smirk stayed ever so annoyingly on her lips. "Don't tell me THE Draco Malfoy doesn't miss classes!" she said, obviously finding my stressful behaviour humorous.

I glared at Granger. "It ISN'T funny!" I growled. "I missed class, damn it! My perfect record is ruined! I'll never be best student in Hogwarts now!"

This time it was Granger's turn to glare. "You never were best student in the first place, Malfoy," she said angrily. "I am."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah... whatever," I muttered. "But now that damn Ernie Macmillan will beat me to second place!"

Granger snorted. "Come on, Malfoy. McGonagall needs to see you," she said, flicking her wand above my head for the water to dry off. "She said something about missing detention."

I groaned, ducking my head under my pillows. "Ugh. I forgot all about it," I said, angrily scrunching my nose in an imitation of Pansy. "Stupid! Stupid!!"

Granger smirked, and raised the pillow from my head. "I'm glad you finally admitted the fact that you're stupid, Malfoy," she said, taunting me with her annoying smirk.

I groaned, pushed myself off the bed, shoved Granger out of my room, took a bath and walked quickly out towards the Transfiguration classroom – all in 18 minutes! Ooh... record!

"Professor, I'm here," I said, opening the door to the classroom. I looked around the deserted room – for some reason, it looked kind of spooky without anybody there.

"Mr. Malfoy, there you are," said McGonaggal, her animagus form of a cat suddenly transforming into an aged, wrinkled faced old woman. "May I enquire why you weren't here last night?"

Think, Malfoy, think. Hmmm. Why wasn't I here? Why wasn't I here?? I've got a brain – use it!! "Uh... crisis," I explained. "Some first year didn't flush the toilet bowl."

Uh-huh. How incredibly intelligent, Malfoy.

McGonaggal's lips tightened in irritation. "Of all the terrible excuses, Mr. Malfoy... this is the worst..." she said. "All right, Mr. Malfoy... for your detention I want you to clean up this classroom. I want it scrubbed, swept, dusted and washed clean by the time I get back."

I smirked. This will be a synch... just a few flicks of my wand and this place will be so clean you could eat off it. "No problem," I said.

McGonaggal's eyes narrowed. "And NO magic."

I groaned. Oh well, on the bright side, I don't have to do this with Weasley.

But just as I was thinking that, the door to the Transfiguration classroom creaked open and a freckly face popped through.

"Ahh... Mr. Weasley. You finally decided to join us," said McGonaggal. "Do you have a reason for missing detention last night?"

"Yeah, actually," said Weasley, his freckled face was red with embarrassment. "There was, uh, Quidditch practice... so

I was forced to join it. See, Harry – and you know how he is – he, uh, doesn't want us to lose the Quidditch Cup this year... and we, er, were forced to join...? Heh."

McGonaggal stared at him, certainly not believing a word he said. "I see," she said. "And why does Mr. Potter want to have his practice at night? As far as I know, being out of the Common Room at night is off-limits."

Weasley's face turned an even brighter shade of red.

"I thought so," said McGonaggal, giving Weasley an Excuses-Don't-Cut-Me-Off look. "Now, grab a sponge and start scrubbing the ground. And NO magic!"

Weasley and I gave a nod, picked up a sponge, and went straight to work.

A few minutes after McGonaggal had left, Weasley pulled out his wand and murmured, 'Scourgify' behind my back. I stopped scrubbing to knock the wand out of his hand.

"What the hell are you doing, Malfoy?" hissed Weasley, his eyes narrowed in anger.

"You're not allowed to use magic," I stated, giving him one of the dangerous glares I learned from Granger.

Weasley laughed bitterly, his face looked somewhat different than usual – crueller and darker. "Since when do ferrets follow the rules, Malfoy?" he said, his lips twisted into a nasty smirk and his voice came out as a drawl.

"Since I became Head Boy, that's when," I hissed, pointing my wand under his chin. "Tell me, Weasel... since when did you become the school's new bad boy, hmm? That was supposed to be my reputation."

Weasley sneered – something I was supposed to do. "Since now, I suppose," he drawled lazily as he carefully pushed my wand away from his chin. Once he was sure he was safe from my wand, he pulled his own wand out and held it defensively in front of his chest. "Tell me, ferret," he drawled. "How's Hermione nowadays?"

I stared at him, careful not to keep my guard down. My wand pointed directly to where his wand did – at each other's chests. "She's fine..." I muttered, still in defensive mode. "Why did you ask?"

Weasley shrugged carelessly. "No reason," he said. "I merely thought that since you two were so close with each other, maybe you'd know."

"CLOSE!" I repeated, eyes wide in horror and complete shock. "Where the hell did you get that idea from?"

Weasley laughed – a bitter, dark laugh that sounded oddly unlike him. "The whole school knows about it, lover boy," he said, stretching his last two words so I would wince. "You two make quite a couple now that I think about it."

I blushed and stared down at my expensive Italian boots – I kept my guard down.

"FLIPPINDO!" shouted Weasley, his arm outstretched and his wand pointing straight at me.

An orange flash burst out of the tip of his wand – it whizzed in a zigzag motion, heading straight at me. The spell hit me square on the chest – knocking me backwards into a heavy bookshelf.

"Ugh..." I groaned, trying to flip back on my back. "Uh-oh..." I muttered staring wide eyed at the thick leather-bound books that were threatening to fall over my head and crack open my skull. The books wobbled about on their shelves a bit, and fortunately for me, it didn't fall. I heaved a sigh of relief.

Weasley looked disappointed that luck was on my side, but brightened up again when he realized how much power he possessed in his left hand (He was holding his wand in his left hand). "Say goodnight, Malfoy," he said, grinning evilly.

I held my breath, and before I could let the words 'Goodnight' escape from my mouth, Weasley's voice said loudly, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The books floated above my head for a bit.

I closed my eyes and waited for the dreadful crash. "Goodnight..." I muttered – the second before Weasley re-flicked his wand and put gravity back into the books.

CRASH!!!

_I hope this was an exciting enough chapter for you. Bet you never expected that, huh? Okay, maybe you did. I'm kind of getting sick of Draco/Hermione pairings (Gasp!). The story lines are all the same. I've been discussing this with my pal, Melissa, and I finally realized the obvious truth. All stories, lead to happy endings. But will mine??_

_Here's a poll. Should I or should I not make a happy ending? Give me your answers through your reviews. I do not except plain emails. Reviewing is the way to go! So..._

_**REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!**_


	9. Growing Attraction

_I'm so glad you guys still (after all this time) review me! Thanks a bunch! I wanted to wait a while longer to get more reviews, but decided, heck with! You guys can review the next chapter. KEEP IT UP WITH THE GREAT REVIEWS! Oh, and before I forget, this story is set in an alternate universe (AU). Melly Kay told me to put that up, just so you guys would know. Here are my thanks to all the Chapter 8 reviewers:_

_**Melly Kay: **Wow! Two reviews from you! Thanks for the AU and OOC thing. But I have to say – this is fanfiction. We have right to make it as sick and twisted as we want. Don't take this personally. Thank you for complimenting my hideous writing. REVIEW THIS CHAPTER!_

_**Linwe Amandil: **Thanks for the great review! I'm so glad you think it's a "Fabulous Story". Here's chapter 9 for ya!_

_**Aly Spy: **I know the language is a little rash. Chapter 1 was bad because I was in a terrible mood. I'll TRY to tone it down for you. Thanks anyways!_

_**HaliJade Snape: **Nice name. Anyways, your idea is nice. The whole Hermione pregnant with Draco's kid thing... But, that isn't really what's supposed to happen in my fic. See, I got it all planned and figured out. I'm sorry if you disagree with my idea though... Maybe in another story? If you want, I can make another story about it and dedicate it to you. Tell me if you agree in your next review!_

_**Kurama Luver 518092: **Ah... nice and short reviews... Just what I like! Thank you!!_

_**Diamondcrystal12: **Thank you for your great review! I know I made Ron mean (I'm sorry!), but I needed somebody to be the bad guy in this AU. If you're wondering about Harry, you'll soon to find out in THIS chapter. Review this chapter please!_

_**lacekiki: **Okay, okay! I'll make it a happy ending, but just because you like it so much! Thank you for the review! Please keep it coming!_

**_mastercreater:_ **_Ooh... curious indeed! Heheheh! THANK YOU!_

**_charmed piper:_ **_Thank you for your review! I'll make it a happy ending. But the thing about Ron? You'll just have to wait and find out... I don't even know myself!_

DRACO'S POV :

Big blue and red lights floated around my eyes. I tried shooing them away by waving my hand at them stupidly. "Get away you bloody lights..." I muttered, trying to shove them away mentally.

"Okay, dear, let me just open these windows for you!" said a bubbly voice, pulling open the windows and allowing the sunlight to pour out in my face.

I winced and tried blocking the contact with my arms. "Put it out!" I muttered. "Put the damn lights out!"

"Do what he says," said a voice flatly. The bubbly one did as told and shut the curtains.

I relaxed a bit. "Granger?" I asked, putting my arms down. "What're you doing here?"

Granger stared at me, her eyes boring through my mind as though reading my thoughts. "What happened?" she asked, placing a hand over my forehead.

I winced a little before closing my eyes peacefully. A glow of warmth seemed to escape from the palm of her hand, filling me with gentle peace and slowly healing my bruise.

"Weasley..." I muttered, truly appreciating the tingly sensation of life Granger lent me. "He threw hundreds of heavy books over my skull."

Granger pulled her hand off my forehead. My wounds started to burn again. "Why did you stop?" I asked, gently putting her hand back onto my bruise.

"Ron wouldn't do that," said Granger grimly. "I may not be friends with him anymore... but I know he wouldn't do that. I talked to him a few minutes ago... he said he bore witness to the accident..."

"Oh, did he?" I hissed. That son of a b! He lied! "What did he say?"

Granger gave me a stony look. She pulled her hand off my forehead again and shoved my hand away when I tried to put it back. "He said you were doing magic," she said. "Even when McGonaggal CLEARLY stated that you were NOT allowed to use it..."

"What!" I snapped, accidentally snapping my head up in anger. My neck felt extremely twisted, but I ignored it. Weasley is going to pay! "I did not use magic! It was Weasley! He was the one hitting me in the chest with Flippendo and toppling books over my head with Wingardium Leviosa!"

Granger looked unimpressed. She gave me a disgusted look and pushed my head back on my pillow. "You a," she muttered. "Ron wouldn't lie like that and he certainly wouldn't do anything to injure people badly!"

I scoffed in disbelief. Weasley wouldn't injure anyone badly? What rock has she been living under after all these years?! If it wasn't for her and Potter always blocking him from me – Weasley would kill me! "What about that time Weasley tried to knock the shit out of me?! Remember that! It took you and Potter ages to calm him down! He's a bloody maniac for crying out loud!"

Granger glared darkly at me. "Don't you dare say that," she hissed, eyes glowing bright red like it did in Oblivion. "You know nothing about him!"

I stared at Granger's eyes, a look of determination fixed in my own glowing blue ones. I honoured and respected Granger a lot, but at times like these, I have to defend up to my rights. Weasley lied, and Granger has no right in saying that I was the liar. "I wouldn't lie about this, Granger," I muttered. "It happened whether you believe me or not."

"I say... not," said Granger coldly.

Then – at the exact same time – both Granger and I shut our eyes, ready to cross into Oblivion and prove our rights.

Oblivion looked much more different then it ever did before – even Granger was surprised. The sky (Instead of just midnight blue and blood red) was midnight blue with shimmering inks of blood red stars scattered all around. The blood red specks looked like droplets of actual blood. The place was neither cold nor hot – but warm and pleasant. The ground didn't burst in flaming sparks or freeze like ice – it felt fuzzy like stepping on a warm fur rug.

I shivered at the difference. It felt very nice, warming and safe in a way. "It's so weird," I muttered, momentarily forgetting Granger's presence. When I remembered, I said, "I went into Oblivion two days ago you know... by myself..."

Granger walked over to me. She gave me the same quizzical look that made me kiss her in the train – I suddenly felt light-headed and weak in the knees. "How'd it look?" she asked, her voice echoing throughout Oblivion.

"Different," I replied, remembering the heat and fire. "It was all red – and hot. The sky was blood coloured with streams of hot orange... the ground felt like it was clawing beneath my feet..."

Granger's eyes bored through my skull like she was trying to search for any scrape of a lie – there wasn't, so she continued questioning me. "What did you do in Oblivion? By yourself, that is?"

I shrugged. "Nothing much," I answered. "I don't know what the big deal with Oblivion is anyways... all it does is keep us away from people."

"Exactly!" Granger cut in, her voice strongly bouncing around the area. "We'd be away from people. That's the whole reason Oblivion exists, isn't it – to assist us at our time of needs?"

I shook my head, and stuck my hand in my pocket for a piece of crumpled old parchment. "I found this note from your book last night," I said, still searching for the parchment. "It was a letter from Aliana... You know the character from the book? Yeah, well she's real."

"What did she say?" asked Granger, who obviously didn't go through page 152 yet. Granger's red glowing eyes widened in curiosity – it was cute, but it'd look better if her eyes were brown.

I couldn't help but smile a little at Granger's big doe eyes. How often do you see Granger – in all her smarts and coldness – enlarge her eyes like a child? Not often, really. I usually do that for affect and money – it used to work during the first year too. "She said something about the prophecy... and how we're destined to save the world together..." I blushed after telling her this. "Do you think its true then? That we're, uh, soul mates?"

Granger shrugged carelessly. "I don't know," she said. I tried studying her face for any sign of blush – there wasn't any. "Probably a mistake. Aliana must've thought that because the rest of the Chosen Two were lovers. Probably a coincidence."

I frowned, feeling – for some reason I chose to ignore – disappointed at Granger's lack of excitement. "Uh... so how're we going to destroy this great evil thing?" I asked, trying to get off the embarrassing subject and push the look of disappointment showing in my eyes. "No offence in any way – but we have no experience at all. We can't even do a proper jinx without hours of training."

Granger shrugged again. "I'm the Best Witch in Hogwarts in both battle and brains," she said smugly. "I can probably pull off a few curses and high-powered spells... I don't know about you though."

I narrowed my eyes, irritated. She didn't have to brag about her position in Hogwarts! The boys had it mush tougher than the girls. I bet even the eighth best Wizard can beat the second best Witch. After all, girls were extremely weak. "I'll have you know, Granger," I said, giving Granger one of my best You-Think-You're-Better-Than-Me-But-You're-Dead-Wrong look. "I'm the second best Wizard in battle and the first in brains. I can handle whatever you can, you know."

Rolling her eyes, Granger released a glassy purple coloured bubble from the tips of her fingers. She let it hover about her right hand for a bit before breathing on it. The glassy purple bubble swam around Oblivion – circling around both of our bodies.

"What is this?" I whispered, raising my arms up on both sides. The bubble made me nervous. Swirling around me like a glassy purple glow of light made it feel like a single bead of mercury slide down my spine.

"Orb of Excellence," said Granger, linking two thumbs together. She closed her eyes and I could feel the power vibrate from her, seeping through my skin and mixing with my blood veins.

I closed my own eyes – thinking it was the best thing to do. The Orb of Excellence twirled around my legs, tinkling my skin with a glow of warmth and energy (It did the same with Granger as well). A buzz of strength went through my fingertips – electrifying my insides with a powerful shock.

Hours – or days... I don't know – later, the Orb evaporated, leaving only a swollen midnight blue glow on my shoulder. Granger also had a glow – but it was blood red in colour and on her left thigh.

"Feel the power, Malfoy?" asked Granger, her blood red eyes glowing brighter than ever.

I nodded, grinning wickedly. "Stronger than ever," I hissed, giving Granger a challenging stare. "Are you up for a battle, Granger?"

Granger nodded, her eyes meeting my own in a challenging mode. "Definitely," she hissed.

HERMIONE'S POV :

A grey ball of fire formed from my clenched fist, spitting acid flames all over. My eyes narrowed, concentrating hard on the battle ahead. I am not going to lose... Those were the only words that formed through my mind.

As my eyes focused on the battle at hand, Malfoy's did as well. He – though as clueless as I am with this unexplainable magical force – decided on a mystical swirl of rainbow coloured lights as a weapon of choice. Looking closer, I realized that the swirl of 'Lights' didn't seem to be lights at all. In fact, it was a colourful hurricane of battle symbols that I couldn't understand.

"Ready, Granger?" said Malfoy – it wasn't a question. He'd attack me even if I said no.

"Ready as ever," I said mentally, clearly forgetting that Malfoy could hear whatever was going through my mind.

Malfoy gave me a quick grin the millisecond before he threw the hurricane of powerful spells at me. Malfoy screamed out dangerous words that seemed to come out of his mouth automatically.

The hurricane of strange symbols and spells split into two and flew straight towards me – hitting me on each shoulder. I could feel the symbols burn through my skin, making its own marks on my flesh. Malfoy muttered a single word, and the symbols immediately flared. I screamed in agony as the symbols burned even more – clawing my skin, chewing my flesh, scraping every fibre of my living soul and sending my body through a very terrible way of torture. I felt my body falling, my skin crippling; falling to the ground in a lump of foul smelling leftovers, my bones twisting; bending in a way I never knew was possible, my blood shrivelling, my eyes rolling in deep anguish.

As my body weakened and my hands turned limp, I unconsciously released the grey ball of fire; letting it burn through Malfoy's chest.

I fell to the ground in a heap of blood and burning flesh. A single word escaped my lips, creating a blood red aura that wrapped my limp form in a comforting and healing glow. I could feel my body recharge and Malfoy's weaken. Seeing Malfoy's body crumple to the ground, I seized my chance by snapping my index finger together with my thumb to release a luminescent spark of silver coloured liquid that seeped out of my skin, only to take form of a Silver Otter.

The Silver Otter swam towards Malfoy's sleeping form and settled itself on his bloodied chest. The Silver Otter stared at Malfoy; its huge doe-like eyes stared at Malfoy's stony face innocently.

I smirked; my body still limp on the ground. Blood flew from my skull, arms, ankles, shoulders, chest, neck, hands and cheeks. Don't judge a book by its cover, Malfoy...

Malfoy smirked at my Silver Otter. "Heh," he sneered. "Is this all you've got, Granger? A dumb otter?"

I smirked. Malfoy took me for granted – that was a good sign. "Don't judge a book by its cover..." I muttered.

The Silver Otter stared at Malfoy innocently, blinked, and reappeared with glowing blood red eyes. Malfoy's eyes widened – a look of fear plastered across his face. The Silver Otter opened its once plant-eating mouth, only to bare blood-dripping fangs. Without even the slightest show of pity, it dug its razor sharp fangs into Malfoy's bruised neck.

"AARGH!" Malfoy screamed, clenching his neck. Blood trickled down his neck, staining the fur rug with a blood droplet in the shape of a perfect circle. Malfoy fell to the ground, his face pale but completely covered in blood.

I smirked. I guess my Silver Otter did its job. I walked over to Malfoy, placed my hand gently on his pale cold face, and set my mind on a healing spell.

Minutes – or hours, or days... I don't know – passed. Malfoy awoke, shivering cold and slightly stiff. When he saw me standing there, right next to him with a healing hand over his cheek, he went paler than usual. His eyes (which were usually midnight blue in Oblivion) seemed too heavy and difficult to meet mine.

I sighed knowing he would never look at me the same way again. "I'm sorry, Malfoy," I said, having difficulty opening my mouth to let the words roll out. "We were in battle. I tend to fight fiercely and without pity during battle..."

Malfoy met my eye for a moment. I could still feel the fear within them. "I know," said Malfoy silently, his eyes studying the bite mark my Silver Otter gave him. "I'm kind of impressed actually," he muttered after a while. "I really thought I had a chance of winning... How did you do it? The Swirl of Symbols thing seemed to be working."

I grinned sheepishly, fingers gently rubbing Malfoy's cheeks unthinkingly. I didn't realize the blush that slowly crept up Malfoy's cheeks. "I kind of... sort of... er... took some of your life..." I said. "Sorry."

Malfoy shrugged carelessly (Even though he winced while doing so). "It happens, I suppose," he said, placing his own hand on my lap without thinking. "But nevertheless...You still owe me."

After minutes of sitting (I was sitting, Malfoy was lying on his back) there silently brought us back to our senses. We both realized what an embarrassing position we were in – with me sitting Indian style, hand gently rubbing Malfoy's pale cheek, and Malfoy's head laying on my lap, staring upwards at the miraculous sky.

"Sorry," both Malfoy and I said at the same time. We both flushed a pale shade of pink and moved away from each other.

After that short embarrassing moment, we both made a silent truce not to think about it anymore. I let my back lean against a non-existent barrier as I sat, eyes closed and drifting into soul-less sleep.

"Granger," whispered Malfoy, his voice (Although very quiet) awaking me from an empty dream. "Come here... there's something you've got to see."

I sighed heavily, picked myself up and crawled over to where Malfoy lay. "What is it, Malfoy?" I asked, voice flat and weary.

"Look at the sky," whispered Malfoy, not bothering to turn his eyes away from the midnight blue sky and the glittering blood red droplets of stars. "Lie down and take a look."

I sighed again. Oh well, might as well do as Malfoy says. I rested my body on the ground beside Malfoy, my eyes facing upwards at the magnificent sight. "It's beautiful..." I murmured, unable to suppress my feelings. The wall that has for so long sealed my heart close felt weak and burdened – like it needed a rest from defending my emotions.

The sky truly was an amazing sight. The midnight blue colour felt like a blanket of warmth; pouring across the whole of Oblivion, the twinkling blood red stars hung delicately in the horizon – mixing beautifully with the midnight blue.

"It looks like One," I whispered, unable to contain myself. "Two extreme differences coming together to form magnificence..."

"Yeah..." Malfoy murmured. He tore his eyes away from the brilliant sky to look at me; studying my eyes, nose, lips, ears, and forehead... It all felt extremely weird.

"Are you okay, Malfoy?" I said, trying to hide the flush under the pale moonlight. His eyes seemed to be looking through my skin, digging deep into my soul. The impressive blue glow was replaced with his gentle steel grey eyes. For some reason, he didn't look like Malfoy anymore. He looked like Draco.

"Draco..." murmured Malfoy, the weight of his head being balanced by his elbow. "You called me Draco."

Damn. I forgot that he could read my mind in Oblivion. I started mumbling unheard curses under my breath – only to be ended with, "I meant Malfoy, damn it!"

Malfoy chuckled at my ridiculous behaviour of trying to make things straight again. "You called me Draco," he repeated, his voice soft but teasing. "Don't deny it, Hermione! You're warming up to me!"

I swore again. Shit. "Yeah, well... you called me Hermione!" I said childishly.

Malfoy's eyes twinkled in amusement. "I always thought of you as Hermione, Hermione," he said. "I just called you Granger because you didn't want to admit it to yourself that you were starting to like me!"

Shit – again! "Well... keep it up and I'm going to hate you again!" Great... that was stupid. 'Keep it up and I'm going to hate you – again?!' How can I hate him again if I HATE HIM NOW! Or don't I?

Malfoy smiled, feeling triumphant as he stared at my gloomy – yet blushing – face. "You won't start hating me again just because I teased you a bit, you know," he said happily, eyes twinkling with joy like a child's before Christmas. "You like me for teasing you! You like me for fussing about you! And you definitely like me for caring endlessly about you!"

"I so do – hold on," I said, stopping for a moment as realization suddenly dawned on me. "You care endlessly about me?"

This time it was Malfoy's turn to blush. "Yes, well..." he mumbled, fidgeting with his scary fingers. "Kind of... actually I do now that I think about it. Yeah."

I couldn't help but smile at what he had just said. "Thanks, Draco..." I murmured, smile still on my lips. "You don't know how much that mattered to me... For you to admit you care..."

"Yeah..." said Malfoy, suddenly brightening. "But what I just said doesn't even compare to what you owe me!"

I gulped, wondering what the hell he was planning. I prayed that it wouldn't be that he would make me embarrass myself in front of the whole school... or bow down to him... or lick his boots... or do his homework everyday for the rest of my entire life... or attempt murder on myself... or admit to the world that I was a fricken idiot... or make me hurt anyone...

Malfoy grinned. "No, Granger, I won't make you do any of that dumb stuff" he said, answering all my dumb thoughts of torture and embarrassment. "What you have to do is neither painful, suffering, nor embarrassing. Just something only you and I will keep to ourselves."

Phew! That cuts everything I thought about out of my list. But what on earth could it be?

"Kiss me."

EXCUSE ME?! I opened my mouth to shout at him, or even raise my hand and slap him for the pervert he really was. "You want me to – won't licking your boots be something more suitable in this case?" I said, desperately trying to escape this subject.

"Come on, Hermione," pleaded Malfoy, his steel grey eyes proving seriousness. "You owe me. And you're a pretty good kisser, so you've got nothing to worry about."

"Nothing to worry about!" I said angrily. "How about the fact that we'll be swapping saliva? And the fact that I'll be KISSING you! For goodness sake, don't you care?"

"Nope," said Malfoy, the cocky grin still stuck on his face. "You owe me, and you know what happens if you back down on something you owe, Hermione."

I groaned. Oh yes. Wizard deals and I.O.U. swears. Damn it all to hell!

Malfoy's arms wrapped themselves around my hips, pulling me into a hug.

I suddenly felt very small and weak. Unable to stand up to this teenage boy I had no experience with. Curses, abuses, threats, battles, and near-death experiences I can handle, but teenage boys? Not at all my kind of thing.

Malfoy leaned in closer to me until his breath hit my face. We were inches apart with barely any oxygen between us. From 3 centimetres to 2 centimetres to 1 centimetre... His lips almost met my own.

I did the only thing I could think of at this desperate moment. I closed my eyes – hoping to return back to Life as soon as possible.

Swirls and colours of Oblivion passed before my eyes the second before Malfoy's lips touched my own. I didn't want to deal with any such thing at the moment, because each time I felt an attraction pull or liking towards Malfoy, an image of Harry would flash through my mind – his emerald green eyes filled with sadness and disappointment...

_DONE WITH THIS CHAPTER! Okay, continue to review this chapter, and I'll put your name up in the next! I'll dedicate the next chapter to you! So..._

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	10. Draco Vs Harry

_Okay. Here you go: Chapter 10. For my very loyal reviewers! And to those who didn't review? I'm totally dissapointed. I was hoping 7 or more, but instead I get 4 reviews! That honestly sucks! So, whatever. **But if you want the NEXT CHAPTER, you'll have to give me 7 or more reviews. If not, I will not continue! **This is a very important note. Please **REVIEW** this chapter!_

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HERMIONE'S POV :

I groaned; my chocolate brown eyes reduced to slits of disgust. Looking at my reflection, an average teenage girl would scream in terror and fright. My face, which was usually a healthy tan colour, was now moss green. Huge pimples spread across my cheeks and around my nose. My eyes were red and swollen and my hair was as frizzy and uncontrollable as it was in my first year. I was definitely a mess alright.

"Shit," I muttered, pocketing my wand after ages of spell casting and nasty swears. "Stupid I.O.U. crap! Why did Malfoy have to ask me for such an impossible task?"

"Just because, Granger," answered Malfoy, who sounded as though he was leaning against the bathroom door. "Now will you kiss me? Or do you want to stay as a hag for the rest of your life?"

"Shut it, Ferret!" I snapped, glaring at the bathroom door angrily. I was damn grateful for the Locking Charm I placed on it.

I could feel Malfoy's smirk creep up on me. "Getting on your nerves now, eh?" he drawled. "What happened to Draco, hmm? You were so happy yesterday night..."

My cheeks went pink. "I'll find a way to destroy this stupid curse!" I muttered to myself. "And I won't need to kiss you for it either."

Malfoy scoffed. "You do that, Granger," he replied. "But when you're ready to admit you're wrong, come and see me... I'm never down for a good snog."

I growled angrily, fingers unconsciously tracing a flower shaped symbol. The symbol burst into a million bubbles and danced around my head. I breathed out a frosty spell and the bubbles reformed into a single bubble on my forehead. The instant the bubble touched my skin, a small pop was heard and the bubble turned into sweet smelling liquid that covered my whole face.

I turned to the mirror and smiled. No more was there an ugly hag staring back at me, for the only thing I saw was my own reflection – warm and pleasant after the horrible face changing incident.

"So... Are you finally ready to owe up to me, Granger?" drawled Malfoy, his eyes staring at the Daily Prophet newspaper instead of at me.

I snorted in disgust. "In your dreams, Ferret," I sneered, taking a seat beside him on the couch. "Why the heck would I want to owe up to you when I've already fixed the problem?"

"What do you mean you've alre— how the hell did you do that?!" Malfoy gasped, surprise taking over his careless expression. "I.O.U. jinxes are impossible to destroy!"

"Tsk, tsk, dear ferret...," I smirked, my finger waving in front of his face. "I thought you'd know me better by now. What I want, I get. And I don't always play by the rules to achieve my goal, you know."

Malfoy's eyes narrowed and his lips formed a frown. "Granger, you OWE me," he said. "How could you just—get out of something as important as owing someone? You know, it's a lot like promising someone that you'll always be friends with each other but suddenly end it. It's that bad, Hermione."

I stared at my fingers, unsure of what to say. Malfoy was right... I owe him, and yet I try to find a way to get out of it – just like I did with Harry and Ron. I was too chicken to admit I was in love with Harry... It wasn't Harry's fault that he was making out with Cho. Harry's just a guy... it's what guys do. I was the one that ruined our friendship... not Harry. It was my entire fault!

I felt my eyes water. It was as though the truth has finally come to reveal itself. That what I've been trying to ignore for the past few months had finally out beaten me. It was my fault... Mine...!

"Hermione, are you alright?" Malfoy's voice asked timidly, finally realizing the gloomy look on my face.

I could feel my lips move into a slight whimper. Tears rolled down my cheeks as the thought of Harry came to mind. I wanted to be held and cared for again... to be pampered and treated like a wanted human instead of a foul sewer rat, and most of all... I wanted Harry.

Malfoy looked tense and unsure of what to do. I could tell that he was feeling guilty and responsible for my condition. I wanted to open my mouth and tell him that it wasn't his fault, but my voice came out as a raspy croak instead.

"Hermione..." said Malfoy, his eyes searching for mine and his hand clenching and unclenching in a desperate behaviour. "I'm truly sorry... It's okay, actually. You don't need to owe me anything! I- I understand if you can't... I mean I am a Malfoy after all."

Although I was sniffing and tears continued flowing down my cheeks unstoppably, I could still see Malfoy and feel the sadness in his voice. I forced my mouth open and tried with all my might to say the next thing I was about to say correctly. "No. I do owe you," I sniffed, as another flow of tears streamed down my face. "I was too afraid to face the facts before. You proved to me that I was wrong. I will forever be grateful, and for that – I owe you..."

Malfoy's eyes widened in surprise, but before he could say another word, I folded my arms around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss.

My lips met his in a passionate kiss. At first Malfoy stiffened, but the second I deepened the kiss, I could feel Malfoy relax and his heart slowing into the same rhythm as mine. It felt as though our bodies had dissolved into one as Malfoy's arms wrapped itself around my waist. My right hand gently caressed his cheek and my left toyed with his platinum blonde coloured hair. A strong aura glowed around the two of us, holding us into a tight fold.

It felt like heaven to me... Like the first time in my entire life, I had a meaning. I was meant to be here... with him... Forever like this, melding into a powerful life force that couldn't be replenished. That this kiss was a gift sent by God, to hold us together and never bring us apart. I could feel the world stop rotating under my bare feet, the sun stop burning, the rivers stop flowing, the time pause for a moment of great importance... Everything was perfect.

Then... it ended. Malfoy and I both broke the kiss to inhale some oxygen and a silent question to what had happened.

Malfoy was the first one to break the silence between us. "Wow," he gasped; eyes glassy as though he had just awoken from a beautiful dream. "You ARE a good kisser, Hermione..."

My cheeks went crimson. "Thanks..." I muttered, not daring to face Malfoy. "I, er, guess I better go..."

I walked slowly out of the room before turning into a desperate run. Once I reached my room, I slammed the door close behind me, locked it tightly and collapsed onto my bed in a deep sigh. My eyes closed itself into a beautiful dream of Oblivion, symbols, and a very, VERY beautiful Draco Malfoy...

DRACO'S POV :

I gazed at the empty space in front of me, wishing badly it were Hermione. I smiled, eyes still glassy and still in a dream-like state. I never knew a kiss could be so magnificent. The mere thought of Hermione made me feel light headed, weak in the knees, tingly and warm all over... I wanted to wrap my arms around her... To pull her into a tight hug filled with so much passion that we would never let go... Hermione's beautiful chocolate brown eyes made my heart melt – it was prettier than the sky in Oblivion by a thousand times.

I collapsed on the stone covered floor, careless about the nauseating headache that came with the fall. I was in a wonderful place right now... somewhere even better than Potter's bloody grave. The rush of blood through my veins and the rapid pumping in my heart made me realize that the letter from Aliana was most probably true – I was falling in love with Hermione.

A real beautiful thing, love is – strong as lead, yet pure and sweet. I smiled, my mind still on Hermione and how she smirked, fought, smiled, laughed, sneered, walked, groaned, and kissed... It was real nice to be both loved and in love...

Wait. The real question was, does Hermione love me?

I groaned, immediately falling out of La-La Land. They really aren't kidding when they say love is difficult... I shut my eyes, thinking back all the reasons for Hermione to like me or not to like me.

Okay... there was that time she healed me when I was almost dying, right? Check. One point for: she might like me.

Hmm. Then again, she was the one that almost killed me... Damn. One point for: she might not like me.

How about that time she got a little tongue-tied when I told her she was starting to like me? Yes! One point for: she might like me.

Oh, yeah! What about that time she called me Draco? Hold on. Draco is my name. Hmm. Tie...

Hermione likes it when I care endlessly about her. And since I care endlessly about her, and never not care because my care for her is endless, does that mean she likes me??

I smiled dreamily. Things were going my way, alright. Then, a sudden horror-binding thought hit me: Potter!

Hermione seems to be really over-protective about Potter... and each time I mention him she would either snap at me or turn to tears. And those dreamy looks she always gives him. It was as if she wanted him – as if she LOVED him!

I clenched my fists, careless to the nails digging through my flesh. That Potter always stands in the way of everything! Why is it ALWAYS Potter? 'Ooh! Look at Harry! Isn't he the hottest thing you've EVER laid eyes on?!' Ugh! Cute my a! First the fame, then the bloody hero thing, then the looks, then Hermione!! God, I wish I could just KILL HIM!

_'Then why don't you?' _the nasty voice in my head hissed. I could feel the evil spread through my ears. _'You have Oblivion now, don't you? That bloody fool doesn't stand a chance!'_

I smirked a dark smirk, satisfied with my dark side's brilliant plan.

_'Draco Malfoy, don't you dare!' _screeched another voice in my head that for some really odd reason, sounded like my ten year old self. It sounded quite weird really. My ten year old voice sounded very childish and rather high pitched and squeaky when it screamed.

_'Why can't he?' _hissed my dark side. _'If the girl could go into Oblivion to battle against some weak brat, why can't he?'_

I nodded, through a cringe. Why did my dark side call Hermione 'The girl' and refer to me as the third person? It was, after all, MY inner dark voice.

_'Draco!!' _my ten-year-old voice screamed. _'Hermione loves Harry! If you kill him, you'd break her heart!' _

I was about to agree with my bratty inner-child voice, but then, after swallowing in all the evidence, I realized something. "HERMIONE LOVES POTTER!?"

That's it! I'm definitely going to kill him now! Thanks a lot inner-child voice!

_'Oops...' _said my inner-child voice, sounding rather sheepish.

The night was purely dark without a single star in the sky. The wind blew on my face, tickling my skin with the coolness. I grinned. It's a good night for battle – or kill.

After the little pep-talk that went through my mind earlier this morning, I had decided that Potter was definitely going down. The stone covered floor felt cold under my feet, luckily I was wearing a heavy fur cloak and silk trousers.

As I walked down the empty corridor, the portraits of the long dead Hogwarts prefects stared down at me, wondering what the hell I was doing in the middle of the night. One of the dead prefects, a blonde haired female girl, winked at me cheekily. Pretty girl... but Hermione was a million times prettier.

"What are you doing here in the middle of the night?"

EEK! I almost jumped two feet in the air, shocked. "What the—oh. Its only you," I said, turning around to see Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindore ghost.

"Only me?" repeated Nearly Headless Nick, his transparent eyebrow raising. "Who should it be then? Filch? Because I can call him, you know."

"No, no!" I said quickly, waving my hands no. "Er... that won't be apropriate, really!"

Nearly Headless Nick grinned. "So what are you doing here? Don't tell me it's another date, now is it?"

I blushed. "Date? What d'you mean by that?" I said.

The grin on Nearly Headless Nick's face didn't vanish. "Oh, come on now. The whole school knows that both you and the Head Girl has been dating for some time now," he said happily, seeing my blush brighten. "Though I must say, I never expected you and young Hermione Granger to get together. Such a rare couple. Oh, well! Love comes in the strangest ways after all."

I blushed again. "We're not a couple..." I muttered sheepishly. "Atleast not yet..."

Nearly Headless Nick stared bemusedly at me. His eyebrow was raised and he was smirking rather wide. "Not yet, is it?" he said happily. "So there is a little romance boiling between you two?"

"Kind of... yeah," I said after a second thought. After all, why would I want to lie? I did like her, and I really want her to like me back. So... yeah. I suppose one could say that there is a little love conflict going on. "Umm... if you'd excuse me, I really have to go now. Er... duties, you know?"

Nearly Headless Nick nodded understadingly. "Of course," he said, floating about in front of me. "Trust me not to tell a soul about this conversation..."

The devious grin and mischeivious twinkle in the ghost's eye should have made me suspicious, but sadly it didn't. I was too busy thinking about tonight's battle that I completely forgot my father's old saying – never trust anybody from another House.

"What about – Harry Potter?" I said. I have been guessing out different passwords for the Gryffindore Common Room for so many hours that my brain was giving me a headache. Harry Potter was my last hope for a suitable Gryffindore-like password. After all, EVERYBODY just LOVES Harry Potter, right?

"Try again, child," said the portrait of the Fat Lady sleepily. "You're giving me an absolute headache. Can't a portrait get a decent rest nowadays?"

I sighed. "Can you atleast give me a hint?" I said exhasperatedly.

"No."

Groaning, I dropped down to the floor completely drained. Now think, Malfoy. This is the Gryffindore Common Room we're talking about – and Hermione is the Head Girl. What kind of password would she think of? When she's angry, I mean. "Ferret Boy," I said as the thought immediately hit me.

"Finally!" sighed the Fat Lady, opening itself for me to walk through.

I smirked, dusted my robes and strolled right into the Gryffindore Common Room. Trust Hermione to name the password 'Ferret Boy'.

"Potter..." I hissed quietly once I entered the boy's dormitory. I immediately spotted Potter, his form sprawled over the bed, chest rising and falling as he breathed in his sleep. His messy jet-black hair was even more insufferable than ever and drool slid down his chin.

I winced. What the heck do girls see in this ruddy fool anyways?

Then... SNAP! My foot accidentally stepped on a quill, breaking it into halves. The second Potter's eyes opened, mine closed – concentrating hard on Oblivion and it's fiery depts.

A grey ball of fire twisted around my fist, spitting acid flames. I had chosen the same weapon as Hermione had on our last battle. As much as I wanted Potter to dissapear from the face of the universe, I would never destroy him without giving him a chance to fight – not that he'll win even if he tried.

With a wave of my hand, Potter's eyes snapped open; emerald green sparkling through red of sky. "What the—where the hell am I?" he mumbled groggily, his hand gently rubbing his forehead.

"You're in Oblivion, Potter..." I drawled silkily, right hand itching to release the fire ball. "A real dandy of a place, isn't it?"

"Malfoy!" said Potter, spitting my name out as though it was poison. "How did I get here?! You fowl piece of rotten flesh! Get me out of here!"

My eyes narrowed in anger. "Don't be such a spoiled brat, Pothead," I said. "I brought you here for personal bussiness, and don't worry. Nobody will intrude."

Potter glared. Though he looked all macho and brave, I knew well enough that he was out of his mind in fright. "What personal bussiness, Malfoy?" he asked after an awful stretch of time.

"Just... stuff," I said through a wicked grin. A second later, my fist made contact with Potter's throat and I smashed him against a non-existant barrier. Potter choaked and spluttered out blood from his mouth. The acid flames of my fireball scrathed through the flesh of his neck, spilling out blood.

"Tell me, Potter!" I hissed, my voice deep and vicious, rolling through Potter's ears. "What happened between you and Hermione?"

Potter choked and released another flow of blood from his lips. The blood dribbled down his chin and burned through the skin of my hands.

"ANSWER ME, POTTER!"

Potter's eyes rolled upwards in agony. His cheeks burned with heat and sweat ran down his face. "G-get off m-m-me..." he growled, having great difficulty trying to push my hand off his troat.

The strength in my iron fists lessened. I released Potter from my grip and glared. "Tell me now, Potter!" I repeated, my fists clenching and unclenching by my sides to show him that I meant bussiness. "What happened between you and Hermione?!"

"It's none of your bussiness!" croaked Potter, his voice sounding raspy and hot. "Why do you care anyways?"

"Because, Potter..." I spoke. "I don't need a reason to care. I don't need a reason not to bug into people's bussiness. But you, Potter... YOU have a reason to answer me! Because if you don't – I'll kill you..."

Potter's eyes did not flinch, but I could definitely see the fear in them. After a while, he finally spoke, "I love Hermione..."

He said it without a care, not even a slight glassy eyed look that it sickened me. How dare he say he loved her? To love someone, you have to give your soul... to care deeply... to never look at the negatives... to keep going... If he loved her – than he should be the one swelling with deep rage and disgust. But he didn't. Instead, the rage and disgust fell to me.

"Potter..." I hissed, midnight blue eyes glowing with pure anger. "You die today..." The fireball in my right hand crawled passed my wrists, snaked around my arms and hissed in power.

I could feel Potter's fear, the taste of it tickled my tongue and delighted my senses. I was in control now. Here in Oblivion, Potter didn't stand a bloody chance. I released the fireball, throwing it at Potter with all the stregth that my right arm could muster. The fireball flew towards it's target, but just as it seemed that everything was going as planned, the fireball stopped – colapsing to the ground in a dreadful THUMP!

The smell of ancient magic filled my nose. Someone had access to Oblivion's magic. But who could it be? Hermione and I are the only ones to have control and power over Oblivion – so why are Potter's arms outstretched? Aiming towards the fireball like some type of ancient sorcerer with deadly magic?

"What the hell happened?" said Potter, a drop of blood sliding down his lips. Potter stared down at his arms (Which were still outstretched in aim). The palm of each of his hands were burnt; wisps of smoke twirled around them hissing spells of Old Magic.

Although Old Magic such as that were foreign to my ears, it seemed to lighten something deep within me – as though I had awoken from decades of sleep and had finally reconized my surroundings. In English it meant, 'Three of power hold the peace...'. It was chanted over and over again, as though it was trying to stick the words into my mind.

"Enough crap, Pothead," I hissed after ages of lolling about drunkenly due to the Old Magic. With a wave of my hand, a swirl of mystical spells and curses were formed before me. "We end this now!"

Potter's eyes sharpened furiously. The formidable wind did not sweep his messy jet-black hair. Potter's arms raised on each of his sides. They jolted his body with electricity and stung his hands with dreadful scars. "Just as I was thinking, Ferret..." his thoughts echoed Oblivion. "Just as I was thinking..."

Everything that came next happened in a flash. The Swirl of Symbols-thing I had chosen for a weapon split into two and flew straight towards Potter. It would've hit him on each shoulder if it wasn't for Potter ducking. Potter screamed out a curse spoken in Old Magic and freed a strange flaming symbol from his fingertips. The symbol hit me square in the chest and I immediately fell over. Potter paused for a breath and I quickly seized my chance by attacking him with a grey fireball. The fireball hit the place where Potter's heart was supposed to be and made him collapse to the ground in a stinking heap. Potter's breath came out shallow and difficult – even his muscles were weak and bendable.

I smirked. This was it, the moment I had been waiting for – the moment the great Harry James Potter died. But just as I was about to attack him with a blast of blinding red light, a voice – sharp and controlling – froze me. My hands and feet felt numb and I fell down to the deathly hot ground.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM, MALFOY!" shouted a voice, powerful and demanding.

I sucked in my nerves. Hermione was here... and she didn't look happy. Infact, she looked positively livid.

Hermione stormed over to me, her nostrils flared and her glare stabbing. With each footfall, I could feel my heartbeat slow to a hollow THUMP. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, YOU STUPID, F, BLOODY, NO-GOOD, SON OF A B FERRET!!!" she screamed, eyes narrowed in pure rage.

A shadow loomed over me. My breath came out chocking and difficult, my eyes teary and red, my heartbeat slow and echoing and my body pale and rigid. "Hermione..." I whispered, my voice poor and raspy. "Please... I've come to take what is mine... Potter doesn't deserve t-to live..."

Though it seemed extremely impossible, Hermione turned even more furious than before. "YOU GET AWAY FROM HIM, MALFOY!!!" she screamed, her voice coming out like a devil or beast's would.

"Hermione, please... you've got-,"

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!!!!"

I shuddered and quickly crawled away. As much as I didn't want to give her up without a fight, I knew well enough when I was beaten.

Hermione walked over to Potter. Her chocolate brown eyes softened and she placed a hand on him gently. "Harry..." she murmered, gently stroking his pale face. "Harry, look at me..."

Potter winced and opened an eye wearily. "'Mione?" he moaned, clutching his bloodied chest in attempt to stop the blood flow. "'Mione... h-h-he was trying t-to..."

"Shh..." whispered Hermione, placing a gentle finger on Potter's lips. Blue glows of healing appeared on his skin, enriching his flesh. "Harry, please... rest. I'll take care of everything. It'll be all right."

Potter's eyes shut, enjoying the tingly sensation of Hermione's skin on his skin. A smile crept up his face. "Thanks Hermione..." he murmured, eyes still closed. "... I love you..."

Hermione smiled – something completely unusual to her – and placed a kiss gently upon Potter's lips.

I stared at the whole scene with glowing blue eyes. My fists were clenched and my teeth grinded furiously. I was positively mad with jealousy. Potter was a f liar. He didn't love Hermione – he _liked_ her. If he loved her, he would be suffering. Not enjoying the pleasure of snogging Chang in the boy's toilet.

That's right... I saw him. He didn't look depressed, nor love sick at that matter. The only reason he even _liked _Hermione was because she was hott and had changed her attitude. If Hermione was still the same old bushy haired bookworm she was last year, he wouldn't give a damn. Me? I was always drawn to Hermione. From the first day I had met her, she was always perculiar to me. She wasn't like most girls, and she didn't care what others thought of her. I was always attracted to the way she took control over things and the way her forehead lifted each time she was concentrating in class. I was merely frightened. Frightened by the fact that people would look down to me for liking a Muggleborn, frightened by the fact that she didn't like me back, frightened by the fact that I would hurt her, frightened by the fact that my father would abuse me for liking her... But mostly, I was frightened for myself. That I didn't really care for her... that it was merely a boy likes girl thing.

But I know better now. I love Hermione – love her with all my heart. I knew by the roar of my gut that it wasn't the same for Potter. He wouldn't risk everything for her... but I would. I'd even die for her.

I glared at Potter in disgust. The battle might be over Potter... but the war has just begun...

_So how was it? I hope it's good enough for you. Please REVIEW this chapter. Oh yeah, before I forget, please review my other fic. It's called **"The Fight For Her Love". **Please read and review it as well! It's sooo RANDOM, it's funny! Come on! PLEASE???_

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	11. Hermione's Date

_Thanks for the many reviews. Their weren't as much as I hoped for, but I suppose you guys did your thing. So here's Chapter 11. Oh, and I have to tell you something important. The next few chapters won't be arriving this quick anymore. I still haven't completed Chapter 12 so you have to be patient. That said, please,_

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HERMIONE'S POV :

I arrived back into Life with Harry by my side. He was well enough to walk now, so we walked together, hand in hand. His smile fluttered my heart and I couldn't help but smile back at him. Malfoy stood behind us. His grey eyes narrowed as he continued to glare at Harry.

"Hermione," said Harry, his hand squeezing mine gently. "Do you know how good it is to be with you? I've wanted to hold your hand like this for ages. If it wasn't for my bruise, I'd take you on a romantic dinner tonight."

I smiled, giving a peck on Harry's lips. "It seems wonderful, Harry," I said. I was very happy at the moment, but the bruise on Harry's chest still bothered me. "Harry, you should really get that chest of yours fixed," I told him seriously. "You should go to the Hospital Wing, Harry – and don't give me that look! I'm serious here!" I stomped a foot on the ground to get Harry's attention and pouted.

Harry chuckled, his green eyes twinkling joyfully. "God, 'Mione," he said, giving my hand another gentle squeeze. "It's wonderful having you back! You're still the same old Hermione I grew to love."

"No she isn't!" interrupted Malfoy with a sharp glare. His silver-blonde hair fell to his eyes, giving him a look of pure evil and malice.

"Pardon?" said Harry, mock-politely. His own eyes were as sharp as daggers. "I don't remember letting _you _join in this conversation. Do you, 'Mione?"

My eyes narrowed sharply at Malfoy. "No," I snapped simply.

Malfoy stared at me with puppy dog eyes. I could hear him plead and apologize through my mind. "Hermione, please..." his voice said, echoing through my mind, mixing into my blood with love and passion. But I don't want his love and passion. I want Harry's. "Potter doesn't love you... I do. Damn it, Hermione! Can't you just listen to me?"

"No!" I said out loud, taking both Harry and Malfoy by surprise. "You can't just say that without care! You hardly even KNOW me! Harry has known me since I first came to Hogwarts and has treated me like a friend ever since. Unlike you, Malfoy!"

Malfoy stared at me. The look on his face made my heart shatter into a million pieces... It felt as though I had done a terrible sin... that I should be punished in the fiery depths of Hell. But I stubbornly refused to let go of Harry for some guy I've only gotten to know for a few days.

"Look, Malfoy," I said sternly, crossing my arms against my chest. "For once in your life, can you just have a heart? I love Harry, and now that I know that he loves me, my life finally feels fulfilled. If you didn't realize, I've been living in gothic Hell for the past few months. I haven't smiled for an eternity and I slit myself millions of times. It's hard enough that I feel like killing myself... I had nobody to share it with... Until now, I have Harry... and my life is finally complete."

I felt Malfoy's heart fall and I knew all that came from my mouth before were lies. My life didn't feel complete. I still had a large hole in my heart that needed filling, and for some odd reason, it felt whole whenever I was with Malfoy. But still, I refuse to turn from Harry into the arms of some other man. Harry is the one I love! He _has _to be the one I love! He's _supposed _to be the guy I love! But... why don't I love him?

"Come on, Harry. Lets go," I whispered, embracing Harry's hand with my own and dragging him out of the room – away from Malfoy. As I passed him, I could hear a single word, trailing into an echo through my mind. The word was, "I love you..."

The next morning, I hopped out of bed with a smile on my face and a twinkle in my eyes. I've never felt so happy and refreshed in ages. Just last night I had dreamed of having a moonlight walk with Harry around the lake in Hogwarts, and I felt life swell up inside my chest. A crazy inferno got to me as I thought of Harry. My head felt light and my knees weak as I slowly slid into dream land. A gentle melody wove itself through my mind, giving my feet life and the power of dance. I strode around my room happily, grinning like an idiot as I walked towards my closet.

"This feels like a nice day to dress up," I said aloud to myself as I stripped the pyjamas off my body. In my singlet and undergarments, I pulled a mini-skirt out of the highest drawer. The skirt was baby-blue with shining golden stars around it, nothing a girl like myself would wear. But hey, I was in a good mood, so I put the skirt on my bed anyways. After deciding to match my skirt together with a baby-pink blouse and cotton sweater, I hopped into the bathroom, took a shower, and walked back out to put on my clothes. Once comfortable with my un-Hermione like clothes, I walked out of the room to catch up with Harry.

"Hey, 'Mione!" greeted Harry once I had finally arrived next to him. He linked arms with me and grinned. "You look simply stunning, Miss Granger!" he said in a raspy, more mature kind of voice. I giggled and kissed him on gently on the lips. "You don't look bad yourself, Potter!" I replied, smiling affectionately at him.

"Shall we leave now, madam?" asked Harry, trying to do a french accent. It didn't sound so well because of his thick English accent... Malfoy would sound a lot better. I tried shoving that thought out of my head and said, "Of course, kind sir. Let us be off!" It was a Saturday and Harry had promised to share a romantic day at Hogsmead with me.

We arrived out of the Hogwart's gate after sending our permission slips to Filch. Students that walked by stared at Harry and I awkwardly and for once, I didn't mind the couples that passed by me. Harry looked smug when he passed by Cho Chang and her fifth boyfriend this year. I felt weird and out of place under their sneers. Minutes after that incident, Harry and I were piling up into the Horseless Carriage, on our way to Hogsmead. But we soon found out that we were not alone in the carriage.

"Malfoy!" cried Harry, enraged. "What the heck are you doing here?!" He wrapped an arm around my waist pretectively and hugged me closer to him, all the while glaring at Malfoy.

Malfoy sneered at Harry, but payed no attention to me. "Why can't I be here, Potter? Its public property, is it not? I am entitled to use this carriage as much as you are, even though you are the Boy-Who-Lived," he said. Then he looked at me and added with gentle eyes and a soothing voice, "You look gorgeous, Hermione."

I almost blushed, but I decided to hide the weakness I felt around him instead. I was out on a date with Harry, for God's sake! How is it that I can only think about another guy??

Minutes dragged by – something awfully unusual on a Hogsmead weekend – and the three of us sat in a long stretch of uneasy silence. It was until Harry checked his watch that the barrier of unease was broken. "We're about to arrive in Hogsmead," announced Harry.

"Congratulations, Potter," sneered Malfoy. "You have just announced something completely obvious to the world! Amazing! Another excelent point for the Boy Wonder!" He said that sarcasticly with a fake amazed look on his face. I knew I should have been angry because of it, but for some reason I was forced to surpress a giggle.

Harry decided to ignore Malfoy and continue talking to me like he wasn't there. "You're going to love where I'm taking you today, Hermione! It's called Madame Puddifoots!" explained Harry, his voice rather excited. "It has the most awesome tea and they serve delicious biscuts! I've been meaning to show you this for ages!"

I could have melted at that very spot. Harry can be so sweet at times! This time, when Malfoy made a barfing noise across me, I gave him a hard look. One would be stupid if one were to anger me when I was this happy. "Harry, Madame Puddifoots sounds wonderful!" I said, staring at Harry with large, loving eyes. In truth, I didn't mind where we were going as long as it was romantic and I spent it with Harry. The sound of wheels wheezed to a bumpy stop. I bounced in my seat as the carriage hit a hole in the ground and landed on Malfoy's lap.

Malfoy blushed, but did not bother shoving me off of him. My neck heated and I could not help but fall to the urge that was forcing me to look into Malfoy's eyes. Time stopped momentarily. The only sound came from our mouths as Malfoy and I breathed oxygen. Our chests rose and fell harmoniously, a melody to my very soul. Malfoy's breath caught my skin, a hot, tempting feel of mint and liqorish. My lips itched to meet his in a passionate kiss...

'_I can't...' _I thought to myself, a voice that sounded sad and full of regret. A part of me really wanted to do it – to slip my tongue through Draco Malfoy's mouth and feel the wonderful tug of power at the edges of my fingertips and toes. _'Come on, Granger!' _the dark side of my mind urged. _'You know as well as anyone does that Potter doesn't care for you! Draco does and you love him! That fool, Potter, can't even treat you well! Draco does a much better job in treating you well! And look at those eyes... they're practically begging for a kiss!' _

An invisible force held me into staring at the gorgeous steel gray pool that were his eyes. At first I hesitated, trying to waddle out of the endless swirl of gray, but the longer I stayed, the more relaxed I became. I even willed myself into exploring deeper through Malfoy's eyes. I discovered secrets that were never revealed when I saw him; sadness, anger, loneliness and love were hammered deep in the forbidden corners of his mind. I searched even deeper, prying for answers, wandering for questions and answering a few for him. A dazzling white light sprung from the corners of my eyes and I could see an older vision of myself, kissing Draco lovingly. I suddenly felt happy – like I wanted that vision to come true. But then, Harry came, emerging from the dark shadows of Draco's mind. He had a hatefull, power-hungry look on his face. Harry snarled, shoving Draco out of the way and walking slowly to the older version of me. He grabbed me by the wrists and pulled me into a forced kiss, one so tough and painfull that my lips started to bleed. I winced and looked away from Malfoy's eyes, back into the world I belonged to.

"Hermione, you're bleeding!" Harry said, worry painted across his face. I cringed and grabbed nervously for the doorknob, trying to make for a dash as far away from Harry as possible. "I'm all right," I lied, wiping the blood from my lips once I found that the carriage door was securely locked on my side. "L-lets, er... Lets go, Harry."

Harry nodded, escorted me out of the Horseless Carriage, and walked me over to Madame Puddifoot's. I looked back at Draco, his eyes were full of sadness, one I could only measure with my own regret...

Madame Puddifoot's was a tiny tea shop jammed full of large, oval shaped tables and pink bows and streamers all over the place. On a sign was the words, 'Happy Valentines Day!'. I frowned, wondering why they still kept Valentine Day decorations on when it was already the month of October.

"This looks... nice..." I lied, conning a look of happiness on my face so not to dissapoint Harry. This place was not at all as I had immagined it... In my dream, Harry and I spent a romantic evening with each other in a fancy (and expensive) Itallian restaurant with marble tiles and silver platters. Here, the only thing costly was the chandelier – and the gold didn't even look very real. I could just immagine what Draco would look like if he saw this. If I were out on a date with him, it'd be first class dining all the way. "I can't wait to eat!" I said.

Harry grinned and walked me over to a table. "Harry?" I asked, when I saw the seat he had placed me in. "Can't we sit under the chandelier? That would be much more comfortable, I'm sure." The fact was, I didn't feel at peace with the glares Cho Chang was giving me, and Harry had chosen a seat right in front of her. Too much of a coincidence.

"May I take your orders, dears?" a squatty woman with a dirty pink apron asked. She passed us menus and grinned with false teeth. I forced an uneasy smile back at her, just to be polite, and looked at the menus. Nothing interested me except the marble cheesecake, and that was much to expensive for Harry. So I decided to order a cheap slice of pumpkin pie and hot Chinese tea instead. "I'll be right back, dears," said the waitress as she bobbled away, pushing passed oval shaped tables and a crowd of customers.

"So, Harry... How have you been these passed few months? I've really missed you," I said, placing a pink napkin over my lap and straightening the wrinkles.

When Harry didn't answer, I looked over at him and saw him staring at Cho Chang, who was looking as annoyingly pretty as ever. "Harry?" I repeated, narrowing my eyes at him for attention. He turned but did not seem to care when he said, "Yes, yes. I missed you too, Hermione."

That made me even angrier than before. How could Harry be so thoughtless?! We were supposed to be on a DATE. You don't look at other girls when you were on a date. That inconsiderate... ugh! "Harry!" I said, glaring at him and Cho Chang. They seemed to be flirting with each other through expressions and I knew that Harry was thinking something horrendous right about now. "Harry can we just move, please?!"

Harry sighed and made a face as he broke the contact with Cho Chang. The Asian girl glared at me and spun back to the dazed boy she was dating. "All right, bookworm, I'm coming!" said Harry lazily as we moved to a spot under the chandelier. I grinded my teeth together, highly offended, and stomped after him.

The next few hours went by terribly. Harry kept staring at Cho Chang and making dreamy, distant looks when they made eye contac. The only time Harry spoke to me was to fake a conversation when Cho Chang passed by. He gave her a smug look when he hugged me, as though showing me off to get her attention. After a few more agonizing minutes, I decided to end this date.

"Harry? I think I'd better go now," I said, dismissing myself without his permission. Harry wove a hand at me carelessly and continued to stare at Chang. When he finally realized the absence of my presence, he ran over to me, grabbed me by the arm and said, "Hermione, wait! Don't you want to visit the Quidditch shop with me? You can't run off that quickly during our date! I thought you loved me."

"Yeah, I don't blame you. I thought I loved you too. I'm glad to see I was wrong though!" I snapped, releasing my arm from Harry's grip. It took some wriggling and tugging to finally be free since his fists were clenched so tightly. "Sorry, Potter! But I think that these past few hours have been one of the worst in my life!"

I began to walk away, but Harry stopped me by saying, "Its Malfoy isn't it?" My feet immediately came to a halt, and I turned around slightly. No matter how much I tried to hide the blush, it showed. Harry glared and said, "I can't believe it! I brought you here on a date and you just brush me away because of some other guy! When someone cares for you, you can't just push them off, you know! I gave you my undivided attention and you ignored it! I even payed for the food, for God's sake and you hardly appreciate the warm gesture!"

"Warm gesture?" I scoffed. My own fists clenched as I poked a hand against Harry's chest in irritation. "You call staring at another girl and letting your date rot in the scorching sun a warm gesture? I say that's torture! I don't believe I ever wanted to be with you in the first place! The whole 'My world sucks' thing was a piece of crap! Unlike YOU Harry, I did love you. I would have done anything for you before this day! But you just proved that all men were jerks, d'you know that! If I ever date a man again, that'd be the day! From now on, it's me, myself and I alone! UGH!" I punched Harry's chest with all the force I could muster and stalked away, leaving a bewildered Harry behind.

DRACO'S POV:

I watched the scene between Hermione and Potter play out with a broad smile. The Acid Heart serum worked like a charm. I revealed Potter's true intentions without leaving any trails behind. In a matter of moments, Hermione Granger would be in my arms, cooning soft and loving words through my ears. I smiled as the thought of that hit me and strode my way over to the angry muggleborn witch.

"Hey, Hermione," I greeted, faking a 'I don't know what just happened' look. When she looked up at me with puffy red eyes, I faked a look of question and innocence. "What happened to you? Wheres your date?"

"He is back at Madame Puddifoots, confused," she replied sadly. I tried to hide the grin on my face as the thought 'It's working like a charm' came to me. "I think the Acid Heart serum you used on him is kind of wearing off. It wasn't as powerful as it should be, but it was effective nevertheless."

My bottom jaw practically fell to the ground in shock. H-how the heck d-d-did she... Damn! "You are the smartest witch in Hogwarts," I said, my voice falling to a dissapointed whisper. The thought of Hermione hating me and slapping my cheek was too strong to overcome. "I'm sorry," I muttered, collapsing on a bench next to Hermione.

"That's all right," Hermione replied, her voice surprisingly calm and natural. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and pecked me on the cheek. With a dazed look on my face, I asked, "What was that for...?"

A small smile tugged on the corners of Hermione's lips. She looked at me with beautiful brown doe eyes and said, "I thank you for what you have done, Draco. You see, I added a couple of drops of the Acid Heart serum after you had. I knew it was kind of fishy that Harry brought me to the same place he dated Cho Chang. That blasted fool merely used me to get to Chang."

"So you hate him now?" I asked, grinning nastily as an image of Hermion ripping Potter's head off flashed through my mind. Hermione smirked. "Not exactly – so don't get your hopes up," she said teasingly. "I just got over the crush I had on him, but that doesn't change the fact that Harry has been my friend for over six years. I'll talk with him and stuff, but I don't think I'll ever look at him as a best friend ever again. Harry's just a friend... Nothing more, probably less."

I sniggered and then asked a question I had been dying to ask ages ago. "Why do you always smirk like that?" Hermione's smirk widened in reply. "I thought you liked it when I smirked," she said, but instead of out loud, she said it telepathically. "I do," I replied, my own mind vibrating as I passed that message over to her. "Then does this mean you're still single?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, a smile appearing on her pretty face. "Yes," she said. "But that doesn't mean I'll come to you with open arms. You'll have to win my attention by yourself!"

"That I can do."

_So how is it? I hope you like. Once again, I repeat when I say, the next few chapters are in the verge of being completed. Please give me 10 OR MORE reviews for this chapter, and I'll try harder to give you the upcoming chaps. Well, it's pass midnight now. Got to go. G'bye!_

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	12. The Prophecy Revealed

_**This story has 3,060 words. **_

_Dun, dun, dun!! Thanks to my WONDERFUL REVIEWERS, I had decided to get off of my lazy butt and continue! Yay for me! This chapter is kind of boring. The whole thing is in Draco's POV, so don't be mad if you like Hermione's POV better. But like it or not, you **must read **and you **must review. **This chapter is a very critical part of the story. If you don't read and understand it, chapter 13 will make no sense to you at all. So I hope you like! That said, please,_

_**REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**_

DRACO'S POV :

The sound of horse hooves entered my ears; a steady gallop had been made as the Horseless Carriage rode its way towards Hogwarts. A grin had been stuck to my face for hours and I still couldn't get it to falter. As the scenery outside the window became streaks of colour and movement, Hermione, who was sitting right beside me, played with her well-manicured nails. The gold bangles around her wrists chinked together and her tied hair was released. She kept muttering inaudible curses like, 'Stupid Harry. I got all dressed up for nothing!' and 'Dumb outfit! What the hell was I thinking?' But I kept quiet, trying to hide the pleasure on my face. I thought she looked pretty, and I hoped she would dress up that much for me when we got together for a date (Not that she wasn't naturally pretty in the first place).

"So, Hermione... Where would you like to go on our next date?" I enquired, examples of romantic places and sceneries popping through my mind the second I asked her.

Hermione stared blankly at me – a look I had grown to love. She then shrugged her shoulders like it was no big deal and spoke, playing with a strand of dyed red hair at the same time. "I don't know... A fancy dinner in the park... A picnic by the lake... Crap like that," she said carelessly. I didn't mind her lack of excitement though – I knew that having Hermione as a girlfriend would take work, not the kind of shit the rest of the girls want. Hermione isn't the type of girl you could get by pampering her with flowers, chocolate and cash. She needed attention, care, and a little bit of a fight; all the fun of having her as a girlfriend of course.

"I have an idea! Why not I rent us one of those Muggle vessels and we have dinner there?" I suggested after getting an image of Hermione and I in lavish evening wear in a Muggle ferry. "We can sail across the seas dressed as Muggles. I would have us date at the Wizarding World, but I don't think that would be as romantic. You see, I watched this dumb Muggle movie – or whatever it is they call it – that was called Titanic. It seemed romantic enough, if not for the death scene of course. What do you think? I'll buy you a lush periwinkle-blue gown – since you looked so good in it at the ball during the fourth year – made of the finest material the Wizarding World can offer! I'll wear an expensive black tuxedo to match your gown and I'll hire the best French chefs money can afford! Muggle of Wizard, I'm not sure. What do you think Hermione? Anyways, besides that, I was thinking lobster – since most people thought it as luxury, not that it is a big deal for me. We shall have the most delicious tarts, cakes and desserts after the meal and a band of expert musicians shall play for us. You may choose the music of course. It'd be greedy for me to plan everything. And the ferry will be beautifully decorated and polished to its finest standards! Oh, and the dancing! We must have that! I saw you dancing with that Krum guy in the fourth year, and I became positively green with envy. You imagine dancing with a hideous troll! The cruise shall be from night till –,"

"Are you done yet??" Hermione demanded. I wanted to shake my head, no, but I thought better of it. Hermione could get dangerous when you weren't careful enough. "Finally!" She said, releasing a sigh of relief. "Draco, I really think you should keep those wonderful dreams to yourself for the moment. We aren't exactly a couple or anything. Right now, you're just a friend – a good friend. I told you already that you'll have to earn my respect, remember?"

"Of course," I said, nodding. "I'm merely thinking of the early future. You see, it won't be long till I make my move. And when I do, you'll be falling for me like any other girl." Hermione glared daggers at me and I quickly said, "Not that you are like any other girl! You're unique and interesting. Uh... you're gorgeous!" Hermione rolled her eyes and muttered 'Nice save' under her breath.

Minutes later, the Horseless Carriage maneuvered a bit before pulling to a stop. I tried making compliments and sweet talking Hermione, but she didn't seem very interested. We emerged from the carriage, shielding our heads from the thunderous storm and the howling wind. After a few seconds of useless running from the rain, Hermione groaned and charmed the air around her into a nice, sunny afternoon. She didn't bother offering me some help. The charm was very advanced work, so I got a little wet while trying to pronounce it correctly.

When we arrived in Hogwarts, I was drenching wet and was forced to perform a spell to make myself dry again. It wasn't difficult – something even a Year One student could do. Hermione tossed her long brown hair behind her shoulders and looked at me before saying, "I think we should do a little research on the Prophecy thing. The note did say that it was somewhere in Hogwarts, didn't it? So I suppose we should probably start searching."

"Yes... But don't you think we should tell Dumbledore?" I suggested, raising my eyebrows. "After all, something this big could be the thing he's been waiting to hear. If there ever were a Chosen Two in the past, Dumbledore is sure to know it."

Hermione glared at me with glowing red eyes, the edges of her lips fell to form an impatient frown. I could practically feel the anger swelling up inside her chest. She hissed something telepathically before storming away. The thing she said was, "You promised..."

With a deep sigh, I followed Hermione up the steps and into the Head Dorm.

It was the dead of night. The moon's rays glistened down my window, reflecting my room with a comforting glow. The moon was a little less than a half moon, but more than a crescent. Without realizing why, I murmured the words 'There isn't much time...' under my breath. It was scary, for the words I had just spoken were those of an Ancient Tongue. Even Voldemort would not be able to translate it – but I could. I could even make a song out of it. It was a soft, tender melody that I hummed under my breath often.

'_Cold of night_

_Sky so red_

_Blood shed spoiling the snowy bed_

_Pale, cold moon_

_Dead of night_

_That is when we begin this fight' _

Those lyrics kept echoing itself through my mind, weaving in and out like a string of golden words. The lyrics frightened me – yet a burst of power tickled my senses each time I hummed it. And it seemed that as each night passed, more words formed through my mind – words that led to a story of the past, present, and future. The words kept popping through my mind and I kept on singing,

_'The Chosen Three_

_Will hold the key_

_Life and Death_

_Only they shall see_

_One of Three won't make it_

_Two of Three shall fall_

_The final person standing_

_Shall hold the end to all...'_

For now, that was all that I knew. I shut my eyes, trying to capture some sleep. But something fiery and powerful kept me from rest. My usually steel-gray eyes flared with a deep, midnight-blue inferno. I slipped out of bed, like an unconscious sleepwalker in the dead of night, and walked over to the open window in my bedroom. The moon shone with a ghostly aura, everything stood in silence – like it had been caught in time – as I raised my arms on each side. My hands were opened, relaxed... My eyes were wide.

An unknown force made me open my mouth, and a deep, slow voice developed from my mouth. The words spoken were icy, turning my lips blue and frosty. "Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it," I said, and a blood-red coloured nimbus formed from the palms of my hands. The trance state I was in immediately ended and I began to panic. The blue nimbus continued to grow, from a small snitch-sized glow into a blinding flash of multi-coloured lights. I could feel the atmosphere around me tighten and my body began to shrink as the bright light sucked the roughage of my skin. In a few seconds, the blue-nimbus I had created was the size of a large doorway. I stared in awe for a moment before my skin started to itch, and a whirlpool of grey pulled me into it (the nimbus).

I tried to scream, resist, escape and struggle my way out of the endless glow of light... but to no avail. I was completely trapped and there was nothing I could do to release myself. My lips were tightly glued together and black dots danced before my eyes. I was extremely weak and exhausted; like all the energy had been forced out of me. The longer I stayed, the weaker I became. The power drained out of me like water trickling down cupped hands. I felt like a deer, captured and about to be killed. Then, all of a sudden, I felt a jerk through my navel. The light immediately ceased and I stopped falling.

A thick grey mist obscured my vision, making me believe myself blind for a moment. After a few seconds of walking about blindly with my arms raised on each side, the fog dissolved in a string of shudders. The moment the fog departed, sight came tumbling back to me and I had to blink a couple of times before I could take in my surroundings. I saw figures – people – walking about in a room filled with thick, leather-bound books of all sorts. After taking a closer look, I realized that the people walking about were students; wearing old fashioned robes. They had cuffs dangling down their wrists and gold laces were fancifully decorated on the edges of their sleeves, trousers, skirts and collars. I cringed when I realized that the gold laces represented the Gryffindore house.

A pretty girl with wavy strawberry-blond hair tied in braids behind her back and sky blue eyes carried a heavy book that she was hugging close to her chest. The badge on her long, old-fashioned robes glinted like gold under the setting sun. She placed the book on a large, oval-shaped table where a boy with sandy coloured hair sat. The boy's robes were decorated in green coloured lace and from there I could tell that he was a Slytherin.

"Here are the books you asked for," the girl said. From the expression on her face and the tone of her voice, I could tell that she was very tired and rather angry.

The sandy haired boy stared at the book for a moment before sliding it back to her. Through his dark brown eyes I saw boredom. "What do you expect me to do, Mudblood?" he said, slurring each word. "Go ahead! Read the damn book."

The girl's face turned a deep shade of crimson as she clutched her hands into fists. Grinding her perfectly white teeth together, she said, "You filthy little Slytherin RODENT! You want to find out about the blasted Prophecy, as much as I do, do you not? Don't you fill me with your bloody nonsense! Just because of my Muggle parentage, you could judge me like a fool? I am not under your command, Gregory!"

"Do not call me by that name!" roared the boy, Gregory. His hazel coloured eyes changed into a deep, blood red glow. "You have no right to call me by my first name! You have now spoilt it with your dirt filled tongue, Mudblood! You retched fool; do you want me to call you by YOUR first name – Aliana?"

My eyes widened in shock. I was staring at Aliana and Gregory – the Chosen Two before Hermione and I! This was unbelievable! I almost swore out loud, but I decided to stay calm as the Chosen Two continued to argue. Aliana kept going on about things like, "Filthy mongrel!" or "Snot-nosed, immature snob!" whilst Gregory went on about things such as, "Pale-faced, bookworm!" and "Dirty little Mudblood!" I grinned when I remembered the fights Hermione and I used to have – these were very much similar to ours. I really can't believe the two of us were so immature!

Then, all of a sudden, the fog around me thickened – secluding my vision of the pair once more. After a brief throbbing on the back of my neck, the fog passed away once more; only to reveal another moment between the past Two. This time, were instead of being in the library, they were deep inside the Forbidden Forest. I had to bend further to get a proper look.

Aliana rose from a thick berry bush like a ghost popping out of the ground. In her hand she held a small, amber coloured dragon. The dragon messed with the cuffs of her robes with its razor sharp, but incredibly tiny fangs. Gregory popped out behind them, his expression lazy under the glistening moon.

"Hurry, Gregory!" said Aliana. "The half moon is high above our heads and ready to shine within minutes! We must bring Corsa to the middle of the Forest in order to enhance our powers! You must be quick!"

Gregory sighed but did not say a word. He followed her to the middle of the forest with slumped features and a limping leg. "Well, go on," he hissed when they finally arrived to the center. "Place the dumb animal on the ground. I'm tired and my powers are subsiding. Get going!"

Aliana dropped the dragon – Corsa – to the ground and kicked it gently with her toe. "Go on, Corsa," she said, urging it to do whatever it was supposed to do. "Give Mummy and Daddy our powers back... Come on, darling. You can do it."

Corsa cooed (Something I didn't know dragon's could do) and crawled up on steep rock. I frowned in disappointment when I realized that there was nothing special about the rock (I was hoping for some magic light or something mystical to happen – but sadly, it didn't). Then, jut as I was complaining about the boring un-magical rock, something amazing happened. The moon, which was glowing brightly in the darkness, suddenly exploded in a frenzy of blue and red colours. I had to block the light out with my elbow crossed over my eyes. Then, after a second of blindness, a flash appeared and I could once again see.

Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, well, nothing except...

Aliana and Gregory were staring right at me!

I grinned nervously before darting for my escape. Unfortunately however, I was caught by Gregory before I managed to do so. "Well look who it is... An intruder!" he said, his nasty voice hissing through my ear. I gulped, knowing that (after reading a few pages of the dumb romance novel) Gregory had an awful temper. Maybe worse than me even.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" demanded Gregory, shoving me against a tree with his fist.

"Umm... I'm just a... new kid? Heh... Foreigner, see?" It was a petty excuse, but one I'd hope he'd take in. "Now, uh, sir, I'll just be going now and..."

"You aren't going anywhere!" shouted Gregory as he tightened his fist around my neck. I gasped for breath but the hold was too strong. Gregory could've killed me if it hadn't been for the blue nimbus that glowed round my arm and hit him square in the chest.

Gregory staggered back, momentarily surprised. He had a hand clutched over his bleeding chest. I was surprised Aliana did nothing to help him. So I voiced my curiosity aloud.

"You stay away from Aliana!" growled Gregory as he blocked my view of her. "She isn't any of your business, Blond Boy! So just back off!"

Slytherin pride got the better of me and I quickly responded to that. "Blond boy? That's got to be one of the worst comments I've EVER heard. I mean Ferret-Face, Blockhead, and Barf Boy I can handle, but seriously! Blond Boy? That is just-,"

But I was cut off before I could finish that sentence; Gregory dug his fist through my shoulder blades and squeezed it hard – from the INSIDE! Tears welled up my eyes as I suffered from obnoxious pain. My heart pounded and my knees gave way. I fell to the ground, wincing and jerking around in agony. I could feel the life draining out of my body, my very soul felt weak. Gregory had power beyond any I had ever seen before.

Then, darkness...

_See. Told you it was boring. The whole story went along as I typed. Don't get mad at me if it's so dumb! I know there isn't much romance in here, but I promise, there will be in future chapters. I haven't even started with Chapter 13, so don't think it'll come so soon. If I get as many reviews as I did for Chapter 11, I promise I'll continue. But if not, I see no use in continuing._

_**PS: I NEED OVER 10 REVIEWS IF YOU WANT ME TO CONTINUE. **NO FLAMES! **IF YOU DON'T GIVE ME OVER 10 REVIEWS, SAY BYE-BYE TO THIS FIC. **_

_**PPS: Don't tell me I'm mean! I know that already.**_

_**REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**_


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